The Chosen and the Fallen
by snapeisnotevil
Summary: When Harry discovers Draco hiding in an abandoned classroom ready to take his own life, Harry takes it upon himself to give the Slytherin something to live for. However, with Voldemort on the rise, Draco's life may be at a new risk now that he has betrayed his family to be with Harry. Currently rated for language/suicide themes. Possibly more in later chapters. Draco/Harry
1. Chapter 1

**Note: Heyo there! What you're about to read is a little experiment of mind. This story has been going through my head in pieces for ages, but I never really meant to write it down. It's not the most profound of stories, I'll admit, but I've enjoyed watching it play out in my head so I thought I'd share. If the characters/magical objects/spells sound familar, then I probably didn't make them up. JKR needs credit for those things. Enjoy ^^ ~TJ  
P.S. I typed this up really late at night, so if you see any typos/errors I would be quite thankful if you pointed them out so I can get them fixed!  
**

1

Harry was quite oblivious to everything around him. He wasn't thinking about anything in particular, but between Quidditch practice and the torturous amount of homework he had been assigned this week, Harry had not had a proper sleep in days. So, as he absent-mindedly weaved through the corridors of Hogwarts on his way to class, it wasn't overly surprising that he stopped in front of the wrong door. If Hermione or Ron were there with him then they would have set Harry straight, but they were not. So Harry opened the door and walked inside.

It was a couple of seconds before Harry realized his mistake. Instead of finding himself in the Charms classroom where he was supposed to be, Harry had somehow managed to find one of the few empty classrooms scattered around the castle. Well, not completely empty. Desks, cabinets, and even a few broken bookshelves cluttered the room. Had he been more awake Harry would have turned around right then and left, but in his half-dazed state he could swear he heard someone stifle a sob.

Yes, there it was again; Harry was sure it was a sob. A bit more alert now, he began to wade through the discarded furniture to find the source of the mysterious noise. There, at the very back of the classroom behind a bookshelf and a small cabinet, Harry found the source.

"Malfoy?" All Harry could see at first was the boy's white-blonde hair, but when Malfoy turned to look at him, Harry couldn't stop the gasp that escaped his now open mouth. Making to reach for his wand, his charms textbook slid out of his hand and made a violent thud in the silence that had taken over the room.

Malfoy was covered in blood and a fair amount of red was smeared across the floor. Now fully awake, Harry's eyes frantically scanned the scene to understand what had happened. His eyes found first the small potions knife lying on the floor next to the other boy's leg before finally resting on Malfoy's wrists and forearms. Malfoy, having had time to drop the knife and reach for his own wand, was now pointing his wand in Harry's direction.

"Get out of here, Potter," Malfoy said in a deadly calm voice, almost a whisper.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Harry half-yelled, half-squeaked, trying to keep from being sick.

"None of your fucking business, Potter."

"The hell it's not!" Harry replied as he reached forward to snatch away the wand aimed at his chest. He carefully placed the new wand inside his robe and repeated himself, "What are you doing?"

"What does it look like?" Malfoy sneered, still dangerously calm.

"Why?" Harry corrected, "Why did you do this?"

"Like I said, none of your fucking business, Potter," Malfoy went to grab for the knife with his now empty wand hand, but Harry was faster. He stepped past Malfoy and kicked the potions knife away, causing a new red streak across the stone floor.

"I need to get you to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey will…"

"What do you care?" Malfoy cut him off.

"It doesn't matter what I care. You've lost a lot of blood.

"I'm not going to the Hospital Wing." How Malfoy managed to sound so calm, Harry did not know.

"Then I'll force you," Harry raised his wand for emphasis.

Malfoy fell silent for a moment, his eyes dropping to stare at the floor. Just as Harry was readying himself to cast _stupefy_, Malfoy raised a bloody arm to stop him.

"Please don't. Just leave me. Get out of here," his voice cracked.

Harry faltered and dropped his wand down to his side. "Then tell me why you did this."

Malfoy gave no response other than a scowl.

"Tell me or I'll take you to Madame Pomfrey," Harry finally threatened.

Malfoy sighed and shifted, wincing slightly when he tried putting weight on his left wrist. He was still bleeding heavily, but he did not seem to care.

"Fine, but I don't see why you care."

Surprised that the other boy had agreed, Harry gingerly sat down next to Malfoy, trying to avoid the blood on the floor.

"Somehow…and I don't know how," Malfoy began, "my father found out that I'm gay."

Harry was startled by this revelation, but Malfoy did not give him time to question.

"I received a letter from him this morning at breakfast telling me how disgusting and what a disgrace I am and that my life is now worth nothing. And he's right."

"What, so you're going to give him the victory and kill yourself?" Harry was angry, more so than he should have been considering this was Malfoy he was talking to, not a friend.

"That was the idea, yeah," Malfoy replied sarcastically. "Now, if you don't mind, get out…"

"No. This is ridiculous," Harry cut him off. "Just because your family doesn't like who you sleep with doesn't mean your life is worthless!"

Malfoy gave a bitter laugh. "It's not just my family; it's my whole world. My family, friends…they're all Death Eaters or on the recruitment list. A homosexual wizard to them is worse than a muggle: muggles are stupid and helpless, but we are defiling wizardkind. And it's worse because I'm pureblood."

"But…" Harry began, but it was Malfoy's turn to cut him off.

"You wouldn't get it. You're the Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived." Malfoy waved his arms in a dramatic gesture, "If you were gay the world would spout rainbows and unicorns! I've been shunned by wizards like you since the moment my family was accused of working with the Dark Lord. Now I've been disowned by the few people I had! …Why the hell are you laughing?"

Harry was, in fact, giving a sort of minor giggle, but he stopped immediately when he noticed the glare Malfoy was aiming at him.

"When the world finds out I'm gay," Harry explained, "I really don't think it will be all rainbows and unicorns. The press is always looking for a good controversial story. They'll rip me to shreds! Can't you see the headlines: 'Wizardkind Doomed; Can we really trust a hero who takes it in the ass?'"

"What do you mean 'when?'"

"You're not the only gay student at Hogwarts," Harry laughed. "Mind you, I currently only know of the two of us."

"Since when?" Malfoy looked thoroughly confused.

"Since forever I suppose? I don't know. I have sort of always known I was, I just kept it quiet. Hermione is the only person I've told," Harry shrugged.

The two sat in silence for a moment trying to take in what they had learned about each other. They were not ever meant to do this, have this heart-to-heart chat. They were rivals, enemies; but right now, none of that mattered.

"You're shaking," Harry was the first to break the silence. The small smile that had been playing on his face vanished instantly. "And you look really pale. I need to get you to the Hospital Wing. Now."

"You said you wouldn't if I told you…" Malfoy tried to argue, looking pointedly at his feet.

"Draco, please."

The blonde boy froze. It was the first time Harry had ever called him by his first name. He heard movement from his left and looked up from his feet to see Harry standing over him, arm outstretched.

"Pomfrey is not stupid. She will know what I did, and then she will tell someone and I'll end up in some padded cell in Saint Mungo's. I can't go. I would rather just end it here." Draco did not want to look Harry in the eye, but for some reason he could not look away.

"She won't say anything if you instruct her not to," Harry reassured him, his hand still outstretched. "And I can vouch for you in saying this won't happen again."

"But it might."

"Maybe, but I will lie for you if it means you hold on a little longer."

Draco said nothing but reached out his own hand to take Harry's. The bleeding from his wrist and forearms had slowed, but he had lost a lot of blood. Harry had not been lying about the shaking.

When Malfoy had made it onto his feet, he felt his legs sway precariously beneath him. "I…I'm not sure if I can walk."

Harry pulled the other boy's right arm around his shoulder to steady him. "Lean on me. We don't have far to go."

Draco obeyed and the two of them hobbled through the old furniture and out into the corridor. As luck would have it, classes had not yet been released, so the two were left alone without the staring and gasping that would have surely followed them thanks to their bloody appearance. When they finally reached the Hospital Wing Harry gave a sigh of relief as a surge of sound behind them signaled the end of class.

**Note: Right-o! First chapter done. I'll be posting more very soon. It's all in my head, I just have to translate it into a readable language and write it down and then type it up! If you loved it, liked it, or hated it, review! I'd really like to here what y'all think. Until next time! ~TJ**


	2. Chapter 2

2

"Dear heavens!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed when she looked up from another patient to see Harry and Draco wobble in. "Lay him down over here."

The nurse guided them to a bed on the far left side of the room near her office door. By this point Draco was feeling so weak that the amount of weight he was putting on Harry was causing them to stagger wildly. When they reached the bed, Draco let go of Harry to collapse on the bed. He still did not want to be here in the Hospital Wing, but the padded mattress underneath him was so very comforting.

Once Draco was laid safely in the bed, Harry stood back to stretch out his shoulders. It had taken more effort than he thought to half-carry the other boy. As he moved back, Madame Pomfrey came forward to examine her new patient.

"I think he's lost a lot of blood," Harry offered as Madame Pomfrey moved a pillow behind Draco's back, urging him to sit up.

"Yes, I can see that." She took Draco's left arm in her hands to examine the damage. "I suppose this was not an accident?"

Draco avoided eye contact causing Pomfrey to give a dissatisfied click with her tongue before pulling out her wand. Without another word she pointed her want at the riddle of cuts across Draco's arms and wrists and began muttering healing spells. When she had finished, she put away her wand and examined her work. The fingers she used to trace the now healed wounds felt cold against his abnormally warm skin.

"I can do nothing about the scarring; you came to me too late. The scars will fade after time, but not go away." Pomfrey let go of Draco's arms and moved toward her office saying, "Stay where you are, I will be right back."

When the nurse was out of earshot Draco looked frantically at Harry, "She is going to tell someone! You can't let her!"

Harry shushed him and moved forward to encourage Draco to relax. "When she comes back I will talk to her. Just rest now, you look so tired."

Draco was, in fact, exhausted. Now that his arms had been healed and he was no longer in any immediate danger, his body longed for sleep. He tried to fight the sleep that was threatening to overcome him, but he had no strength. Just as his eyes fluttered closed, however, Madame Pomfrey came to his rescue.

I need you to take this before you fall asleep, Mr. Malfoy."

Draco forced his eyes open to see the nurse holding out a blood red pill and a large glass of water. His arms felt as if they were made of led when he reached for the two items and downed them both. Almost as soon as the pill hit his stomach a burning sensation flooded through his body causing him to whimper softly.

"What did you give him?" Harry asked, concerned.

"Something to speed up his blood platelet renewal," Pomfrey replied. "He should be back to normal by this evening, but I want to keep him here overnight. You may stay here for a little while Mr. Potter, but you must allow him to rest. Now, if you will excuse me, I have other students to attend to."

"Wait," Harry stopped the nurse when she made to walk away, "He asked me to instruct you not to tell anyone about this."

"That seems unwise, Mr. Potter. If Mr. Malfoy had gone much farther there would not have been much I could have done to help."

"I understand that, Madame Pomfrey, but I am prepared to vouch for him that this will not happen again."

"Is that so." It was a statement, not a question.

"Yes, it is. I had a long talk with him before we came here. We discussed what had caused this and how it can be avoided in the future." Harry tried to sound matter-of-fact, but Madame Pomfrey seemed to see right through him.

"I still think it is unwise. If he has gone this far then he needs someone equipped to help him through this," the nurse replied.

"Please, Madame Pomfrey!" Harry dropped his voice to a near whisper so the other boy couldn't hear. "I promised him that if he came to you nothing bad would come of it. He's terrified at the prospect of having to leave the castle, which I assume would happen if he was to require a proper counselor."

Pomfrey frowned and looked over her shoulder at the blonde boy. It took her a moment or two to respond. "Very well, but this is against my better judgment. If I see any evidence, and I mean any, that this will happen again I will not hesitate to inform the correct parties. Am I clear on that?"

Harry nodded, relieved. He knew Madame Pomfrey was right, but he just could not bring himself to break his word to Draco. When Madame Pomfrey left to attend to her other patients, Harry went to one side of the wing to find a chair. He then returned to Draco's bed and pulled the chair up to the edge and sat down.

"Is it okay if I stay?"

Draco nodded, once again on the verge of sleep now that the burning sensation had died down.

"Madame Pomfrey agreed to say nothing," Harry continued, causing a small smile to move across the other boy's face. "No one will know about this, so rest now."

What Harry did next surprised him. He reached out his hand and laid it on Draco's before he could give himself time to question his actions. Whether it was because Draco did not mind the comforting hand or because he was too exhausted to know what was happening, Harry did not know, but the hand beneath his turned palm-up so that their hands intertwined. Harry could feel his eyes become moist. He had secretly longed for this, to hold Draco's hand in his own, but he had never once allowed himself to believe it would ever happen. But here they were, hands clasped together. And now that Draco had finally fallen asleep, Harry had no intention of letting go.

**Note: This part used to be merged with the next chapter, but I decided to split it off, which is why it's so short. The next chapter is already half written, so it will be up real soon! Please review =) I'd love to hear y'all's thoughts. ~TJ**


	3. Chapter 3

Harry jumped when he felt the hand on his should gentle urge him awake. The room around him was a blur thanks to the position he had fallen asleep in which had twisted his glasses sideways on his face. He moved one hand to his face to fix his glasses on his nose so that Draco, still asleep and still grasping his hand, came into focus.

"Dinner time, Mr. Potter," came the voice of the hand, Madame Pomfrey. "I need to wake him up and I think it would be best if you joined the others in the Great Hall."

Still groggy from his nap, Harry only nodded in agreement and reluctantly pulled his hand out of Draco's. He had not meant to wake the other up, but as he pulled his hand back, Draco shifted slightly and opened his eyes.

"Ah, Mr. Malfoy. How are you feeling?" Pomfrey asked as she moved a tray of food from the cart next to her onto the bedside table. "I was just sending Mr. Potter off to dinner."

Draco nodded at her question and kept his eyes fixed on Harry, who was smoothing out his robes with his hands and readying himself to go. He parted his lips as if to say something, but seemed to change his mind when Harry looked up to smile at him before waving and turning to leave the Hospital Wing.

* * *

Harry had a ridiculous sort of smile on his face when he walked into the Great Hall for dinner. Today had been a strange day to put things lightly. It had been one of those days that should have ended horrifically, but had somehow managed to pull itself together at the last moment to have quite the opposite ending. This particular ending had made Harry particularly giddy; so much so that he did not try to hide his excitement when he went to sit with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"Where on earth have you been?" Hermione more scolded than asked. "And what are you so pleased about?"

"I wasn't feeling well so I went to see Madame Pomfrey," Harry half lied and ignored the second question. He followed Ron's lead, whom he had sat directly next to, and began shoveling food onto his plate.

"Well, I took notes for you in charms. I also wrote down the homework instructions for you." Hermione put down her knife and fork to reach into her bag. She fished out a piece of parchment and handed it across the table to Harry.

"He's insane, that Flitwick," Ron said, brandishing his fork at the piece of parchment, causing a bit of potato to fly and land on Hermione's neat handwriting. "I think he's been taking too many pointers from Professor McGonagall."

"Really, Ron, it's only an essay," Hermione pointed out.

"Only an essay?" Ron mumbled through the potatoes he had just shoved into his mouth. He paused to swallow before continuing, "The length alone would convince Voldemort life isn't worth living!"

Harry snorted.

"Very funny, Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes. "But you will want to look over those notes soon, Harry. You should go to the library tomorrow to get the books you need."

"Yeah, alright. Thanks Hermione." Harry did not know how he would survive school without her, but all he really wanted to think of at the moment was how delicious the food was and what all he had witnessed today, not homework.

* * *

When Harry woke up the next morning he had no desire to leave his four-poster bed. Truth was he had not slept well that night. All he could think of as he tried to fall asleep was the sight of all that blood in the unused classroom. He had fooled himself earlier at dinner that everything was going to be fine and okay, but lying in bed with his mind free to think properly, he knew this was not the case. Sure, he had given the Slytherin some reason for comfort, but Malfoy was right; they lived in separate worlds. Even here at Hogwarts where they shared the characteristic of being students, Harry could not just stroll up to Malfoy and start a normal conversation. They were infamous rivals; too many people would become suspicious. And as much as Harry felt he did not care if the world found out he was gay, he wasn't foolish enough to think that publicizing their relationship would convince Malfoy not to hurt himself.

So, as Harry pulled himself away from the little sleep he had gotten, he was not only groggy and delirious, but severely confused at what exactly he was to do next. By the time he had pulled on his robe he decided that, at present, the best he could do was go to class like normal and hope some idea came to him later or that Malfoy had his own ideas.

By the time lunch came around, Harry had somehow made it through two classes without being told off for dozing off, the most impressive being McGonagall's. He had gathered up his books, paying as little attention as possible to Hermione and Ron bickering over whether or not to head to the library before lunch, and walked out of the door to run straight into Draco Malfoy.

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed, nearly dropping his books.

"Watch it," Crabbe grunted, flanking Malfoy as always.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't looking…" Harry tried to apologize, but was cut short by Malfoy.

"You can cut the farce, Potter," Malfoy sneered. "You've played your little game and I fell for it, but it's over now."

"What are you talking about?" Harry searched the other boy's face to find any clue of how he was to respond, but found nothing but anger etched in his mouth and eyes. He had time enough to register this anger for only a split second before he felt his back slam up against the stone corridor wall.

"Stop mocking me, Potter," Malfoy growled in a volume only Harry could hear. His mouth was dangerously close to Harry's and his hand was gripped tightly around Harry's collar.

"Draco, I…" Malfoy pulled him forward and slammed him back against the wall again leaving Harry breathless, his phrase unfinished.

"I said stop it!" Malfoy yelled this time. A large group of students had now encircled them, waiting to see the fight. Conscious of this, the Slytherin dropped his voice back down to a whisper. "If you ever try to mock me again, Potter, then know that my blood will be on your hands, not my father's."

Malfoy gave Harry one last shove before turning away. To the disappointment of the crowd, Harry did not pursue the other boy. He was still winded, but more so shocked at had he had just heard. How could Malfoy think he had been anything other than sincere the day before?

"You alright, mate?" Ron asked, guiding him away from the wall and giving him a firm slap on the back. "You should have slugged that ferret!"

"Really, Ron!" Hermione rolled her eyes before taking Harry's books from his arms so he would not need to carry them as he tried to find his breath. "What was all that about anyway?"

"I…I don't know," Harry replied honestly. "Let's just get lunch, yeah?"

Ron and Hermione, thinking little more of the incident, led Harry through the now dissipating crowd of students towards the Great Hall. For Harry the incident was just about all he could think of. So, for the rest of the day he no longer struggled to stay awake in his classes, but fought to keep that look of searing anger Malfoy had given him from his mind's eye. Even Quidditch practice that evening before dinner could not distract Harry.

When the rest of the Gryffindor team had all changed and left for dinner, Harry still stood under the shower. Sure now that he was alone and undisturbed, he began to yell wildly and banged his fists against the shower walls, causing water droplets to cascade around him. He knew he was being ridiculous, but at the moment he didn't care. He had been stupid allowing the possibility of being with Malfoy enter his head, and now he was feeling the consequences.

For some reason Harry did not cry, only yelled. When he had finally exhausted himself, he turned off the shower, dried himself, and got dressed. He was not hungry in the slightest, so he trudged his way up the stairs in the direction of the library when he had made it to the castle from the locker rooms. Homework was the last thing Harry felt like doing at the moment, but he figured if he came back to the common room with books for his charms paper, they would act as a good enough excuse for Hermione as to why Harry had skipped dinner.

Harry found the library mostly empty except for Madame Pince organizing a shelf of books to his right and a few scattered students sitting here and there amidst piles of worn-out books. Harry preferred this quiet to the noise he would meet in the common room and was in no hurry to leave. He strolled through the library, stopping here and there to admire a particularly old or large book, until he felt that he had located all the books he would need for his essay. When he was ready to leave, Harry turned the corner around a bookshelf only to come face to the back of Malfoy's had.

Harry froze and said nothing. The other boy was sitting at a table, reading, with his back towards Harry and was apparently unaware of Harry having appeared behind him. Harry decided to use the other's obliviousness to his advantage. He hurried towards the table and slammed his pile of books down beside the Slytherin. Malfoy jumped at least two inches off his seat in surprise.

"You want to tell me what that was earlier?" Harry forced through his clenched teeth.

Malfoy stood up looking terrified. Harry had not intended to sound so angry, but he was fuming. Reenacting their earlier encounter, Harry grabbed Malfoy by the collar and pushed him up against a bookshelf. A few more precariously placed books fell to the ground around them when Malfoy's back made contact with the shelf.

"You think I was mocking you? Thought I was lying about everything I said? You're a fucking idiot, Malfoy!"

Harry's lips crashed into Malfoy's without apology. After half a second the twice-shocked Slytherin gave into Harry's kiss and then finally to the tongue that forced its way into his mouth. They attacked each other in this manner for seconds, minutes, maybe hours, before Harry finally pulled away. Both were breathing heavy.

"Still think I'm mocking you, Malfoy?"

"I think you'll need to show me again before I'm sure," Malfoy replied before meeting their lips together once more.

The kiss was less violent this time, but still rough. Harry was convinced that if he had been given the choice to stay like this forever, mouth locked with Draco's, he would have agreed without a second thought. But that was only wishful thinking.

"Get out of my library this instant!"

The two boys broke away, faces flushed, to find Madame Pince glaring at them over her reading spectacles.

"This is a library, not a harem! Now leave!" Madame Pince demanded, her finger jabbing the air in the direction of the door.

"We were just…" Harry began, but stopped when he noticed Malfoy was no longer next to him by already halfway out the door. He shrugged instead and made to grab for his collected pile of books still lying on the table.

"I think not!" Madame Pince stopped him. "I said out!"

Harry was irritated that he would have to return to Hermione empty handed, but he was in no mood to fight with Madame Pince. He turned on his heel and exited the library just as Draco had moments before. Harry had half a mind to try and follow the Slytherin, but decided against it. Draco would almost be to the Slytherin common room by now, and that was the last place he wished for he and Draco to be caught together. So, with a growing smile on his face, Harry headed up the stairs toward his own common room.

**Note: This chapter jumps around a bit, but I think it's my favorite yet! The next chapter may take a little longer to post just because I'm trying to work out how I should divide the chapters up, but it shouldn't be too much longer. Thanks for reading! Review please! ~TJ**

**Reviews: Thanks so much to all of you that have added my story to favorites and/or reviewed. To SPF who I couldn't reply to through messaging: You asked how long I intend to make this story. I'm not entirely sure just yet, but I would say it has quite a bit to go. If I were to guess off the top of my head I would say maybe 10 chapters total? But like I said in my note, I'm still working on how I want to split up the next bits, so it may turn out to be much longer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Note: Hello again! I normally like to wait to put notes at the bottom, but I needed to make mention of something from the last chapter. There are supposed to be breaks throughout the page since the chapter jumps around quite a bit, but for some reason I can't get them to show up. I've tried editing and replacing the document, but it's not going through. *shakes fist* So awfully sorry about that. But enough with this - on with the story!**

"Harry, over here!" Ron called from near the fireplace when he spotted his friend come through the portrait hole into the common room. He pushed off his school that had been saving the chair next to him and patted the seat with his hand to indicate Harry should sit there.

"Did you get your books?" Hermione asked as Harry stepped over Ron's bag and sat down.

"No, 'fraid not."

"Harry! I thought you said you would go to the library today! We wanted to work on that assignment tonight."

"_You_ wanted to work on it," Ron grumbled under his breath, earning him a glare from Hermione.

"It's not my fault!" Harry tried to defend himself. "I went to get the books, but that vulture Pince kicked me out!"

"She's not all that bad Harry," Hermione defended the librarian, "Besides, you probably deserved it."

"They are stacked in a pile on a table near the dragon books. I did find them all, she just wouldn't let me check them out."

Hermione sighed. "I suppose one of us will need to go get them then…Ron, be a dear?"

"Why me!" Ron exclaimed.

"Because you and I both know that half of your essay will be written by me. I might as well make you work for it."

"You are a cruel one, Hermione," Ron complained, shaking his head, but stood up nevertheless and left the common room to fetch the books.

Once Ron had left, Harry and Hermione were left sitting in silence. As it was not yet past curfew, most of the other Gryffindors were still out roaming about the castle, and the few in the common room were sitting a ways off from the pair. Hermione bend over a book she had been holding in her lap, and Harry stared dreamily into the fire. The two sat like that for some time before Hermione broke the silence.

"Do you mind if I ask why Madame Pince kicked you out the library?" She closed her book and looked at Harry.

"Hermione, do you remember that conversation we had last summer at the Burrow? What I told you?" Harry kept staring at the fire when he asked this.

"What?" Hermione asked, not following Harry's question.

"She kicked me out because she caught me snogging a bloke." Harry shifted his gaze to Hermione when he said this so he could see her reaction.

"Oh that…" Hermione replied, starting to put together the pieces. "But I thought you had decided not to act on it?"

"Well, I didn't think I would ever find someone."

Hermione nearly snorted at this. She was quite certain there were loads of wizards who would like to get ahold of Harry if they could. "Who is it then?"

"I'm not sure if I should say," Harry hesitated. "I don't think you will be very pleased with me."

"As long as you don't tell me it's Malfoy!" Hermione laughed.

Harry looked back at the fire, hurt clearly written on his face. He swallowed hard and said nothing.

You…you are kidding right?" Hermione faltered. "Harry, he has always been so foul to you! Why him?"

"You wouldn't understand," Harry muttered. He had hoped Hermione would have been more supportive.

"You're right, I don't understand," Hermione huffed. "And you really cannot blame me for questioning you on this! This is _Malfoy_ we're talking about! If something had happened to change him I would maybe understand, but I cannot see any evidence to that. In the corridor this afternoon for example…"

"Something has changed, Hermione. I cannot say what; it's not my place to say, but he has changed," Harry replied forcefully.

Hermione was burning to ask more questions, but decided now was not the best time with Harry so defensive. Instead, she leaned forward to place her hand on Harry's knee, "Just please be careful, Harry. I don't want to see you get hurt."

Harry nodded. "Please don't say anything to Ron."

"No, I suppose he would not be too keen about all of this," Hermione agreed.

"Keen about what?" Ron had managed to slip in the common room unnoticed, causing both Harry and Hermione to jump.

"Just that we've decided to work on the essay tomorrow. Harry is not feeling well," Hermione lied.

"What? After I went all the way to the library for these?" Ron held the stack of books aloft for the other two to see. He groaned when Harry and Hermione stood up to leave to prove they were serious.

"Sorry, Ron," Harry apologized. Truth was Harry was beginning to feel sick. Hermione's reaction had caused a flood of doubt well up inside of him.

When Harry had changed and gotten into bed he immediately began to cry. Worried someone might hear him, he cast a silencing spell and curled up under his blanket. It had been a long time since he had cried last, but he did not try to stop himself. It wasn't that he was sad, more so that he was overwhelmed. These past two days could, if he allowed himself to be slightly overdramatic, change his life forever; certainly his life at Hogwarts, at least. He had become used to fighting with Malfoy over the past few years, but what would they do know? How would they react to each other around other people? The two of them could try to keep their relationship a secret, but it was sure to come out sooner or later. If it had been Ron Harry fancied, it would take ages for anyone to notice anything odd since the two already spent so much time together. But any time he spent with Draco that wasn't used at least to argue would cause all sorts of suspicion.

All Harry was certain about in the midst of all this was that he wanted to be with Draco. They had their differences to sort out, that he was sure of, but the past few days had shown Harry a happiness he could not easily forget.

**Note: I know I know, it's a shorter chapter than the others. Don't kill me just yet, though! I'm really excited for the next chapter because my favorite character of all time appears (guess who!). Also, there may be some rather M rated situations coming up in the near future ;) So, you know, take heed if that sort of stuff bothers you. I'll put a warning at the top of the page in the chapter that it occurs for any of you who would like to skip. ~TJ  
P.S. Review please! It encourages me to stop being lazy and write more :p**


	5. Chapter 5

**Note: Terribly sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. It proved way more difficult to write out that I thought it would. It scares me to death writing Snape's character. He's such a brilliant creation of JKR, and the last thing I want to do is mess him up. Enjoy!**

Draco knocked three times on the menacing dungeon door in front of him. He only had to wait a few seconds before the door opened to reveal Professor Severus Snape, clad as always in his all black robes and impeccably shined dress shoes.

"You asked to see me?" Draco inquired.

"Yes, come in Draco," Snape stood aside, his robes billowing around his ankles as he did so to allow the boy to pass into his office.

Draco made his way to one of the two un-cushioned, straight-back wooden chairs facing the professor's desk. He sat down and breathed in the familiar scent of the potions ingredients stored haphazardly on shelves along the walls. Any other student would have been terrified to sit where he was now, but Draco found the office comforting in an odd sort of way. He had often come here for advice as Severus was his godfather.

Only after Snape had replanted himself behind his desk did he begin speaking. He leaned forward from his chair and placed his elbows on the desk, his fingers touching in a thoughtful manner.

"I received a letter from your father this morning, the contents of which were rather…peculiar."

Draco could not help the look of shock that crossed his face. He was perfectly aware that the two corresponded frequently. Severus and his father were, after all, old friends and his father did enjoy keeping tabs on his son. It was the way Severus's smooth voice lingered on the word 'peculiar' that made Draco suspicious. Surely his father had not clued his friend in on the latest disappointment? He had assumed his father would have tried to keep the news as quiet as possible.

"It seems that Ms. Parkinson sent your father a letter a few days ago which included some rather unfortunate information," Snape continued.

"That bitch!" Draco yelled, standing up and knocking his chair to the ground.

"Language, Draco," the professor advised, unphased at the outburst. His eyes followed the enraged Draco pace back and forth across his office.

"And did my father include this 'unfortunate information' in his letter to you?" Draco sneered and continued his pacing.

"No," Snape removed his elbows from the desk and leaned back in his chair. "Lucius seemed unwilling to say, though I have a guess I am fairly certain is correct."

"Oh? And I suppose your just as disgusted as father," Draco assumed aloud, pausing his movement to look at the older man.

"I have no care one way or the other, Draco. But my opinion is not important. Sit back down so we can continue."

This response calmed Draco down slightly, though he had no intention of sitting down. "No thank you," he replied curtly, though he did bend over to replace the chair on its four legs.

Snape shrugged and continued, "Your father wrote to me to inform you that he wishes to apologize."

"Apologize!" Draco yelled as his right hand flew to grab his left wrist where, under his shirt sleeve, resided the worst of his recently attained scars.

Snape again ignored the outburst and picked up a neatly written letter from his desk. "He wrote, and I quote, 'I realized upon sending the owl that I was being unfair to young Draco. I know that he would never act so selfish and stupid as Pansy described to me and I should have waited for more evidence before taking such actions as I did.'"

"So why did he write to you then?" Draco asked, confused. He forgot his earlier decision to stand and sank back down into the chair.

"I believe he wishes for me to discover whether Ms. Parkinson was correct and report back to him," Snape replied, refolding the letter.

Draco gave a bitter laugh. "What do you think, Severus?"

"By the way you have been reacting to this ordeal, I believe Ms. Parkinson was correct in assuming your having joined the ranks of the homosexuals."

Leave it to Severus to give such a response, Draco thought. He sighed and shuffled his feet against the stone, potion-stained floor.

"However, that does not mean I will not lie to Lucius and assure him that the girl was mistaken."

Draco again looked shocked. Severus had always been more open-minded than his father, but he never though his godfather would approve of this.

"But," the professor continued, "I must urge you to prove my lie correct, Draco. While I do not care who you wish to take into your bed, your father will find out sooner or later, and his reaction will be worse than before. Therefore, you should find your female companion and convince her that what she was led to believe about you is untrue and carry on as before."

Draco's heart pounded painfully in his chest. He could not look his godfather in the eye and so dropped his gaze to a point on the floor just in front of his uncomfortable chair.

"I can't," the boy whispered.

"You cannot what?"

"I can't go back…not now." Draco wrung his hands on his lap, tears threatening to break free from his silver-grey eyes.

"You have not gone very far, Draco," Snape's voice sounded uneasy. "There is no reason you cannot turn back now."

"I've fallen in love with someone."

Snape seemed to understand the implications of this confession and immediately asked, "With whom?"

Draco stayed silent and continued to stare at the floor. A burning desire to tell Severus everything was threatening to overtake him. He felt dizzy and sick to his stomach.

"With whom, Draco?" Snape repeated, sounding impatient.

Draco tore his gaze from the floor and stared straight into Severus's onyx eyes.

"Harry Potter." He barely whispered the name.

Snape stood up so suddenly from his desk that the boy nearly fell off his chair in surprise. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?"

"Of course I do," Draco replied calmly, fighting back the nausea.

"They will hurt you…no, kill you if they discover you have betrayed the Dark Lord in this manner!" Snape yelled, openly angry.

"You don't think I know that?" Draco yelled back before dropping his voice back down to its normal volume. "But it's too late now."

"It most certainly is not."

"Severus, he saved my life." Draco pulled back his sleeves to reveal the jagged scars decorating his wrists and forearms.

Snape pushed away from his desk and made it to the boy's side in only a few strides. He took Draco's arms in his hands to inspect them.

"Draco, why?"

"It's too late for my father to apologize. I'm not going back."

The professor let go of Draco and fell back into the other wooden chair facing his desk. "Does Potter return your feelings?"

"Yes, I think so."

"You _think_ so?" Snape sighed and passed a long-fingered hand over his face. "Does he understand the dangers?"

"No, not entirely."

"I want to speak with him." Snape stood up and returned to his desk to find a slip of parchment and a quill.

"What?" Draco looked terrified at the idea.

"I will send for him tomorrow after classes," he indicated the note he had written and was easing into a small envelope. "And I would like you to be present."

"But…"

"I have made my decision, Draco. I can tell that you will not give this up easily and I have no intention of leaving you in the hands of an arrogant fool unaware of the need to keep you out of harm's way. You may leave now."

When Draco had closed the office door firmly behind him, he sank to the ground. He felt even dizzier than before and his breathing had become shallow and labored. He was afraid for a moment he might pass out there at the foot of Snape's door, but a thought stopped him. He had to find Harry. Draco needed to speak with him before they met with Snape.

Concentrating on his breathing, the Slytherin pulled himself together and pushed off from the floor. Once he was certain that his legs would not give way underneath him, he hurried down the corridor and out of the dungeons in search of the boy he had openly admitted to his godfather he was in love with: Harry Potter.


	6. Chapter 6

**Note: I am so terribly sorry for how long it took to get this chapter up! I had a paper due for class and then had a rather disasterous doctor's visit that left me not wanting to do much of anything yesterday. Do accept my apologies.**

**Reviews: Thanks so much to all of you who have reviewed and/or favorited my story! I'm overwhelmed at the number of subscribers I have gotten for this story. To Viva Drarry who I could not send a reply to: Draco is indeed lucky to have someone like Snape to look out for him! I really wanted to include him in this story because I wanted to explore what would come out of his having to support a relationship between his godson, whom he really does care for, and Harry, who he has promised to protect, but has difficulties liking.**

When Draco reached the Entrance Hall he paused, suddenly aware that he did not actually know where to find Harry. He considered for a moment waiting until after dinner to talk to the other boy since there was only an hour or so before the meal, but Draco was rather afraid he might chicken out if he did not confront Harry now. He turned on the spot he was standing and looked back and forth a few times from the staircase to the door leading out onto the school grounds.

Frustrated, Draco sighed and sat down on a stone bench near the side of the hall. He could think only of three logical places where Harry might be at the moment: the Gryffindor common room, where Draco was not allowed to be, the library, where Draco had no intention of showing his face after the other night's incidence with Madame Pince, or Hagrid's hut. This last choice seemed the least likely, but Draco had often seen Harry, flanked by his two friends, head out to visit the gamekeeper before dinner. Concluding that the first two options were out of the question, Draco stood up and exited the castle in the direction of the gamekeeper's house.

Draco began to jog down the path towards the hut. He knew this was a long shot, but he was certain that if he did not confront Harry now he probably not have the guts to do so later. When he reached the hut he was slightly winded and so paused for a moment or two to catch his breath before pounding on the oversized door with the side of his right fist.

Before moving his fist away from the door, Draco could hear loud shuffling from inside. A chair scraped across the floor and footsteps pounded towards the door. Soon enough Draco found himself looking up at a giant of a man.

"I need to speak to Potter. Is he here?"

"What der ya want?" Hagrid was shocked at finding this particular student at his door and seemed to not have heard the question.

"Just tell me if he is here or not, you great oaf!" Draco yelled.

"Yea, but we're havin' tea…" Hagrid finally answered, obviously not keen at the idea of letting a Malfoy into his home.

"Oh, move aside!" Draco slipped through the gap between the half-giant and the door frame and stumbled into the center of the one-room hut. He had never been inside the hut before, though he had been guilty on occasions of peeking through the side windows when he was younger.

The Gryffindor trio seated at a massive table in one corner of the room all looked surprised, though at varying degrees. Ron seemed the most shocked of the three as he had still not been filled in on Harry's secret. His mouth was open in an unattractive sort of way that looked as if he were preparing to make a particularly nasty comment at the Slytherin. Malfoy beat him to the punch.

"Shut your mouth, Weasley. It's unbecoming." Malfoy sneered at the red head before turning to Harry. "Potter, I need a word with you."

"Now?" Though Harry wasn't quite as shocked at Ron at seeing Malfoy before them, he was a little surprised that the Slytherin had braved talking to him here in front of the others.

"Alone," was all Malfoy replied.

"Yeah, alright," Harry agreed and stood up from the table to follow the blonde to the door.

"Harry…" Hermione tried to warn from behind him, but Harry waved her warning away.

"Sorry for leaving early, Hagrid. The cakes were delicious," Harry lied and followed Malfoy out the door.

The pair walked towards the Forbidden Forest in silence for some time before the blonde finally stopped near the edge of the forest and checked to make sure they were out of sight of Hagrid's hut.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked concerned, eyeing the forest to the right of them nervously. Draco followed Harry's gaze for a moment before explaining himself.

"Severus received a letter from my father this morning."

"Severus?"

"Professor Snape," Draco corrected.

"You call him Severus?"

Draco waved off the question impatiently. "My father informed Professor Snape that he is willing to apologize to me if Severus…Professor Snape can assure him that his previous informant was a liar."

Harry pondered the statement for a second trying to understand what Draco meant. "Did he say who told him about you?"

"Pansy…" Draco hesitated to say.

"But how did she know?" Harry was curious to know.

Draco sighed, shoved his hands into his pockets, and launched into the story. "Pansy came to me about a year ago saying that her parents had been encouraging her to get to know me better. See, Potter, I am from one of the richer pure blood families, so she wasn't the first to approach me, but she was less annoying than the rest and I figured it would be easier to hide my…defects…if I had a girlfriend to show off. I did not know how persistent she would be on sleeping with me, though. Of course I wasn't interested, but she would not give up! About a month ago I snapped and let it slip I was gay."

"And you didn't suspect her when you got your father's letter?" Harry asked, still confused.

"Pansy is not the most pleasant of girls, but she is not cruel. She would have known what telling my father would mean. I never once thought she would tell, but apparently I gave her more credit than she was due." Draco stared into the forest as he felt a pang of guilt run through him. Pansy had been fond of him and he had never given much thought to how his less-than-tactful confession must have hurt her.

Harry left Draco in silence until curiosity got the better of him. "So, what did you tell Snape?"

"Oh, he had already guessed the truth," Draco shrugged and turned back to face Harry. "But he agreed to lie to Father for me."

"But that's great!" Harry was disappointed, but could not pretend this wasn't best for the other boy.

Draco frowned and prodded a nearby dirt clod with the toe of his shoe. "I told him not to."

"What?"

"Harry…" Draco tripped over his words, "I can't go back to how things were. It's too late for that. I…I want to be with you."

Harry felt his face grow hot and wondered for a second whether he might have misheard. He gave a nervous cough and pointedly looked away from Draco, not sure exactly what to say. There kiss the other night had been unexpected and not thought through. This conversation was different. Silent or not, though, Harry could not help the smile stealing onto his face.

"I know this seems rushed and out of character," Draco hurried to continue, "but I wanted you to hear this from me first and to give you the chance to bail out before Severus talks to you tomorrow."

"What?" The smile disappeared.

"Professor Snape, I mean…"

"No, I know who you mean. I meant why would he want to talk to me about this? And what do you mean 'bail out?'"

"I just meant…you see, Harry, there is a fair amount of danger involved if anyone were to discover that we're…that we might be together. More danger for me than for you, though. Severus will explain in full tomorrow if you're willing to hear him out. He insisted that he debrief you on the risks and will probably also insist on threatening your life should you do anything to get me hurt. That is why I want to give you the choice to forget about this whole thing now. Particularly if you don't feel the same way about me…"

"Snape knows about us?" Harry couldn't decide how angry he was that Snape, of all people, knew his secret.

"I'm sorry, Harry, I let it slip when he confronted me about the letter."

"You seem to let this 'slip' a lot!" Harry snapped and immediately regretted doing so. "I'm sorry, that was mean of me."

Draco felt his heart skip a beat and regretted ever coming to talk to the other boy. Harry could see Draco's crestfallen expression and hurried to cheer him up.

"This is all just a lot to take in! These past few days have felt more like an odd dream than anything else. I really do want to be with you Draco…"

"But?" Draco dreaded the answer.

"But I am afraid you're rushing into this. We haven't exactly been on the friendliest of terms in the past and if being with me really is going to put you in danger, I wonder if it is smart for you to trust me."

"Of course I'm rushing into this!" Draco nearly yelled. "But I want this; I want you. You know better than anyone that my life does not have much to ride on. My life is in danger either way and I would rather face it with you than alone. Of that I am sure."

Harry could feel the smile returning to his face. He reached forward and took Draco's hand in his own causing the Slytherin to smile back at him.

"You have so much to live for, Draco. But if you are sure that you want to put up with me on a daily basis, then I will happily go along this."

"Thank you," Draco's voice cracked – damn the tears!

"But promise me one thing. I want you to give this whole thing some thought tonight. You gave me the chance to bail and I want to return the favor."

'But…" Draco tried to protest, but was cut off.

"Promise me. I will wait for your answer, and if you decide you want to go through with this then I will go with you to see Snape and put up with as many threats as he feels necessary to make against me.

"I promise." Draco hesitated a moment then closed the distance between him and the other boy. He wrapped his arms around Harry and pulled him into a hug. He was positive that he would not change his mind overnight, but he knew it was worth it this once to humor Harry.

**Note: Right-o. I wanted to include the next bit of the story into this chapter, but I'm so brain dead at the moment. I didn't want to postpone updating any longer so I just went ahead and posted this bit. In case you're confused, the danger that Draco is in will be explained in the next chapter. So no worries, you didn't miss anything crucial. I'll try and get the next chapter up real soon =) Please review! ~TJ**


	7. Chapter 7

**Note: To those of you who I told that this chapter would be up yesterday, I greatly apologize. I am a liar and should be shot.**

Harry and Draco walked up towards the castle together. Their hands hung to their sides, but due to the close proximity of which they were walking, the back of their fingers lightly brushed together with each step. Neither was brave enough to take the other's hand in their own, but neither hand any intention of pulling their hand away. When they had come in full sight of Hogwarts castle Draco hesitated, clearly not keen on the idea of advertising any odd behavior to the rest of the school. Harry understood and stopped as well to give the other boy a smile and a quick wave before heading on his own to the Great Hall for dinner. A look out of the corner of his eye showed him Draco following behind at a proper distance to avoid suspicion.

Harry was one of the first students to arrive at the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione were nowhere in sight, so Harry made a guess at where the trio normally sat just past the middle of the Gryffindor table and sat down. He began shoveling food onto his plate, one particular thought occupying his mind: What on earth was he going to tell Hermione and Ron?

If he was completely honest with himself, he did not want to tell his two friends anything. He loved Ron and Hermione more than his own family, but this was something he wanted to keep private. He wanted to be able to experience this new part of his life alone, just he and Draco, without anyone else watching his every move or giving advice when it was unneeded. This last be applied particularly to Snape. Harry scowled at the thought of the hook-nosed professor and speared a bit of broccoli with his fork in irritation.

Snape aside, Harry still needed to think of a way to keep Hermione and Ron's questions about Draco at bay. Hermione was smart and would have put most all of the pieces together by now as she had already been informed on a previous occasion that Harry was not only gay, but interested in Draco. If he was lucky, Harry thought, Hermione would respect his silence on the matter and leave him alone. Ron, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. While Ron did not share Hermione's sharp observation skills, he wasn't dumb. With all of Ron's curiosity and hatred of Malfoy, it was obvious that he would be the real threat to Harry's privacy. So what should he say?

Harry had just begun constructing a rather weak story about how Draco had wanted to discuss Quidditch with him when a flustered Hermione and a furious looking Ron walked into the Great Hall. Deep in thought, Harry only noticed the two once they had sat down next to him. Hermione was across the table from his, as usual, and Ron was on his right, though had left an awkwardly large amount of space between he and Harry.

"Where's that ferret of a boyfriend of yours, eh?" Ron asked, his voice dripping with disgust. He pushed his plate away from him as he asked, apparently having lost his appetite at the thought of his friend showing any interest in Malfoy.

Harry's mouth fell open in shock. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, in mock of a fish out of water, completely lost at what to say. Finally, he turned to Hermione, feeling the rage bubbling up inside of him.

"You told him?" Harry half-yelled, aware that people might stop and stare.

"Yes, I told him!" Hermione tried to sound matter-of-fact, but the expression on her face gave away her feelings of guilt. "When you left Hagrid's Ron wouldn't stop pestering me about going after to you to keep Malfoy from hexing you. He was about to go after you and I had to tell him something to him from seeing you two…you know…"

"Talk?" Harry finished for her. "We were just talking! You didn't have to tell him the truth!"

"And what was I supposed to tell him? That you and _Draco_ were having a nice, friendly chat about your upcoming Quidditch match?"

Harry dropped his shoulders in defeat. It was if Hermione had been reading his mind. She was right; there was no way Ron would have ever fallen for much of anything other than the truth. There was no other logical explanation, it seemed, for Harry to be on even semi-friendly terms with Malfoy. He still felt hurt that Hermione had betrayed him to Ron, though.

"You promised you wouldn't say anything to him," Harry muttered, the fight in him beginning to fade.

"Oh, Harry…" Hermione looked uncomfortably guilty, "Ron doesn't care that you're gay…only that you've chosen Malfoy of all people to fancy."

Harry turned to Ron to see if this was true, but did not find much reassurance. Ron was staring back at him with the most unattractive look of repulsion on his face.

"Besides," Hermione continued, looking nervously from Ron to Harry, "I need all the help I can get to convince you this is a terrible idea…Ron, stop making that horrendous face!"

Ron stayed as he was for a moment or two longer before finally turning away from Harry to the plate he had initially pushed away from him. Whatever disgust he still felt was obviously no match for his growling stomach.

"Right," Harry stood up from the table and grabbed his schoolbag, "It's nice to know I have a traitor and a homophobic bigot for friends."

Hermione tried to call after Harry as he stormed out of the Great Hall, but he ignored her. Had he been paying attention, he might have noticed a pair of gray eyes from the Slytherin table follow his exit.

Harry made his way up the staircase with the intention of heading to the common room, but stopped when he stepped onto the landing facing the library. What he needed now was quiet and solitude and the library now seemed the better destination.

Madame Pince spotted Harry as he walked through the door and made for a moment as if to tell him he was not welcome here, but changed her mind and only shook her head. This enraged Harry even more than he had been, and when he had found a secluded table near the back of the library, he shoved over a discarded stack of books onto the floor to relieve his anger. This was a childish thing to do, Harry knew, but he needed some time to pout.

Calming down slightly, Harry sat down and pulled out a couple of his school books from his bag. Now that he was comfortably seated away from any prying eyes, he had no intention of going up to the common room anytime soon, so he figured he might as well put his time to good use. His efforts proved fruitless, however, as his thoughts kept drifting off from his readings to Draco.

Harry was beginning to wonder if all this was really worth it: Hermione and Ron's hostility, his confusion, the weird looks he was sure to get from the other students…was he really insane enough to put up with all of this for Malfoy? Harry was unquestionably attracted to Malfoy and had been since that moment in third year when the Slytherin had feigned injury from Buckbeak. There was just something about Malfoy that Harry found irresistible – the way his tailored clothes always clung to his body so perfectly or the way his blonde hair fell into his grey eyes after a sweaty Quidditch game – there was no sense denying his physical attraction for the boy, but Harry was skeptical that it could ever turn into something more. Malfoy had hurt him and his friends on multiple occasions, not to mention his involvement on the wrong side of the war. So why was he even giving Malfoy the light of day?

As these doubts flooded his head, the memory of his bloody encounter in the unused classroom unexpectedly flashed before his eyes. Harry felt the same feelings of concern and panic coursing through him that he had felt during the actual encounter. Then, almost on cue, the memory switched to his conversation with Draco just an hour or so before and the hug he had been surprised to receive. Harry smiled and looked back down at his school books ready to finish his readings.

What Harry had realized was that there was more to his feelings toward the Slytherin than just pure physical attraction. He wanted to protect Draco and keep him from hurting himself anymore. He wanted to see more of that soft side of Draco that gave hugs and admitted vulnerability. Yes, this really was worth it.

* * *

Curfew was just starting when Harry finally packed his bag and left the library. Assuming that Madame Pince would have kicked him out before the curfew, Harry didn't think to check his surroundings as he climbed the stairs. Noting the empty castle, he jumped when he heard a voice behind him.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. Out past curfew," Snape observed as he strolled towards Harry, black robes billowing around his steps as always. "Ten points from Gryffindor, I think."

"But, it's not…" Harry began to protest, but realized his efforts were pointless with this particular professor.

"I have something for you," Snape ignored the protest and reached into a pocket of his robe to fish out a small envelope. "I was going to send this in the morning post, but since you so conveniently decided to disregard the rules this evening you may have it now. Has Mr. Malfoy spoken to you?"

Harry nodded and took the envelope from the professor's long fingers.

"Then while he is not here I would like to issue you a warning," Snape paused for effect and sneered. "Should you do anything to cause harm to Draco I shall personally see to it that you are reunited with your _dearly departed_ father before it is your time to do so."

Harry could not help the incredulous look that passed his face. Had Snape really just threatened his life? Feeling a little nervous, he decided to avoid standing around any longer and gave one last nod before continuing his journey to the common room.

When he had finally made it through portrait hole, he briefly noticed Ron and Hermione sitting near the fire. He passed by them without a word and climbed the final staircase to his shared room where, after changing into his pajamas and climbing under the covers, he took the small envelope he had been given and opened it.

_Mr. Potter,_

_It has come to my attention that my godson has made a most unfortunate error in whom to entrust his heart. As I am sure that it has not crossed your mind to consider the consequences of your actions, I feel there is a need to explain to you the misfortunes that may befall your companion should you make any mistakes._

_You will meet me in my office immediately after classes have finished along with Draco Malfoy. Should you fail to attend our meeting I shall see to it that you spend each of your upcoming Quidditch matches in detention._

_Professor Severus Snape_

* * *

Harry went down to breakfast alone the next morning. He planned to confront Ron before the day was out, but not before he had received a response from Draco. To ensure his being undisturbed by Ron and Hermione, Harry strategically chose a spot in between Colin Creevey and a vaguely familiar looking second year girl Harry recalled was called Penelope. His two new breakfast companions were so shocked by this unusual seating arrangement that they hardly said a word the whole meal.

Just as Harry was finishing his eggs, a great swarm of owls came rushing into the hall dropping letters and packages along the house tables. One particularly magnificent owl headed straight for Harry and dropped a small note perfectly into his unexpecting hand. Realizing what this must be, he eagerly unfolded the note and read:

_I kept my promise. I am sure.  
~D_

Harry looked up from the note to see Draco giving him a sort of semi-triumphant smile. The two kept eye contact for a moment longer than they should have, but Harry was disappointed when the Slytherin finally looked away to continue a conversation with Zabini. Taking one last swig of pumpkin juice and bidding Colin and Penelope farewell, Harry left the hall in the direction of his first class.

**Note: Whoa. So this chapter came out way longer than I intended it to. I'm kind of picky about keeping my chapters generally the same length, so I cut it off here and will make the rest a new chapter. Most of this was supposed to just be a segway into the next bit, but I felt I needed to add in more explanation as to why on earth it makes sense that Draco and Harry should even be friends, much less romantic interests.  
Plus, I had a little too much fun with Snape. The whole reading a letter from Snape while in bed bit may have been due to a bit of fantasizing on my part...  
****Anywhoo, I hope I didn't totally bore y'all with this chapter. More up soon! And reviews are always appreciated ^^ ~TJ**


	8. Chapter 8

**Note:** **This chapter was surprisingly difficult to write! I've been working on this bit in my head for ages, but it changed up everytime. I feel pretty content with how it turned out, but let me know what you think. AKA, leave me a review ;)**

**Reviews: Some of you have expressed some dislike about Ron and Hermione. Oddly enough, that is exactly what I was hoping for. See, I've always found Draco/Harry fics that have Ron and Hermione being totally okay with the situation a little silly. It's Draco Malfoy we're talking about after all!**

Now that Draco had given him his answer and there was no easy way to turn back, Harry had every intention of confronting Ron before the day was up. Ron, however, seemed determined to make this as difficult as possible. In short, Harry had come face-to-face with Ron's silent treatment. He had seen this method used before by his friend, but it had almost always been aimed at Hermione.

Harry's first attempt ended in disaster. The trio had left their first class together and were headed to Herbology when Harry began berating Ron on his insensitivity and close-minded this. He immediately regretted this tactic, however, as all it gained him was an even more infuriated Ron and a strong rebuke from Hermione.

"Harry, stop it!" Hermione grabbed Harry's arm as Ron picked up pace and stomped ahead of them. "I told you, this has nothing to do with you being gay!"

"Then why does he refuse to tell that to me himself?" Harry asked louder than was needed, intending more for Ron to hear the question than Hermione.

"Maybe if you weren't so mean about it you would get somewhere," she suggested.

"Mean?" But Harry knew she had a point.

Harry's next attempt at confrontation came during lunch. The three had sat together as usual and Ron had even chosen to sit next to Harry, but this was only so that he could avoid all eye contact. This time Harry tried a different approach.

"Ron, pass the butter please."

Ron passed the butter.

"Ron, hand me some of that gravy."

Ron handed over the gravy.

"Ron, why do you care that I'm gay?"

"Sod off," Ron flared up, picked up his things, and moved to another part of the table to finish his meal.

Harry gave Hermione a you-can't-say-I-didn't-try sort of look, but Hermione only shrugged and told him to give Ron time.

More time was exactly what Harry wanted later in the day when his last class had come to a close. His problems with Ron had kept his mind off of the meeting with Snape, but now that it was time to head towards the dungeons, Harry felt a great amount of apprehension. Talking about relationships with Snape was about the last thing Harry ever wanted to do.

"I'll catch up with you later," Harry told Hermione after class. He had given up entirely at speaking to the overly-silent Ron. "I have a meeting with Snape."

"What for?" Hermione asked. Ron stood behind her, waiting impatiently.

Harry brought his hand up to ruffle his already messy hair in embarrassment. "He wants to discuss the Malfoy thing…"

"You volunteered to visit with Snape for that ferret?" Ron piped in unexpectantly.

"Yeah?" Harry replied, surprised that Ron had said anything. "Turns out Malfoy might be in some sort of danger. I agreed to hear Snape out."

Something seemed to have clicked in Ron's brain, though Harry was unsure what it was. Ron's features began to soften from the scowl he had adopted and his eyes shown with some new realization. Harry wanted to know what he had done to cause such a reaction in Ron, but did not have the time to find out. He did not want to start out his meeting with Snape on the wrong side for being late.

* * *

When Harry reached Snape's office door, he pushed all thoughts of Ron out of his mind and tried one last time to prepare himself for what he knew would be a meeting from hell. When he had fully composed himself and had prepared a few snide remarks just in case they were needed, Harry knocked on the door. To his surprise the door opened to reveal Draco, not Snape.

"Hey," Draco greeted him with a small smile.

Seeing this smile from Draco rather than the sneer from Snape he had been expecting boosted Harry's confidence. He followed Draco into the room and the two sat down in the straight-backed chairs facing Snape's desk; Harry sat to the right of Draco.

Professor Snape was seated behind his desk and had adopted a face impossible to read as he waited for the two boys to sit down. When he was certain that he had their full attention, he waited a moment longer in silence before jumping into the matter at hand, skipping all forms of a welcome.

"I would like to start this meeting by telling you both that I do not support this. Your decision to bet with one another will complicate your lives and quite possibly ruin them. I have advised Draco that it is unwise to risk his life for such an arrogant, immature boy…"

"Severus…" Draco warned, but Snape held his hand up and continued.

"But I can tell that the two of you are too foolish and love-sick to pay any attention to my well-given advice. With that said, I feel it is my duty to explain to you in full what dangers lay ahead. I promised Draco's mother many years ago that I would do whatever is in my power to keep him safe, and if this means accepting you as the partner of my godson, I shall begrudgingly do so."

Harry was quite certain that his ears were deceiving him. Snape 'accepting' him seemed just as likely as Voldemort allowing him to live in peace. He turned to look at the boy next to him to gain some clue that he really had heard correctly. Draco did not seemed to be as surprised as Harry, but the look of relief on his face told him that Draco had not expected such a positive outcome.

"Now, as I am sure you aware, Mr. Potter, Draco's family is closely associated with the Death Eaters. I know that Professor Dumbledore has given you a general explanation of who the Death Eaters are, but did he ever go further than telling you they are the loyal supporters of the Dark Lord?"

Harry hesitated before saying, "No." Dumbledore had never properly explained to him what the true mission of the Death Eaters was. He had never noticed this lack of teaching on Dumbledore's part, but now that Snape mentioned it, Harry had an uncomfortable feeling the Headmaster had purposefully left him ignorant on this matter, afraid Harry might find himself sympathetic to the wrong side. After all, Harry had never had a particularly wonderful experience with muggles.

"So I suspected," Snape replied. His voice gave away his irritation at Harry's lack of knowledge on the matter, but his face remained eerily void of expression. "The Death Eaters are a sect of wizards and witches that have been around since the beginning of wizardkind, though they did not adopt their present name until the rise of the Dark Lord. Since the beginning of written history there has been evidence of the idea of magical supremacy, meaning that wizards have the right, and duty, to exercise control over muggles. Believe it or not, most of wizardkind believes in this idea of magical supremacy, though in varying degrees. For example, the Ministry of Magic has a small department known as 'Muggle Redirecting' which concentrates on keeping the muggle population from making any life-threatening errors. The Muggle Redirecting department of the Ministry of Soviet Russia was commended a few years back for their involvement in the halting of nuclear weaponry."

Both Draco and Harry were by this point utterly lost. Harry had never been the smartest when it came to the subject of history and Draco was entirely unsure of what nuclear weaponry was. Noticing the blank looks on the students in front of him, Snape gave a small cough and continued his lesson in a more accessible direction.

"Over the decades magical supremacists began to become more and more radical. Some began to push for the total annihilation of muggles and even more began to push for the purification of wizard blood. They planned to do this by removing all half-breeds, 'mudbloods,' and the sexually deviant, mainly homosexuals and wizards or witches who had married muggles. This movement is where the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters you are familiar with fit in. Do you follow?"

The question was more directed towards Harry, but both boys nodded in the affirmative. Snape seemed pleased by the lack of questions and continued.

"It is at this point that the dangers for Draco become apparent. Because he is a wizard, and more importantly a pureblood wizard, his descent in to sexual deviancy, as seen by the Death Eaters, is far worse than if he were a half-blood or muggle. As a pureblood Draco is expected to know what behavior is and is not acceptable. If he were a homosexual muggle, he would be considered naïve and weak. As a pureblood, however, he is seen as a traitor to the Death Eater cause."

"If Draco is considered a traitor as a homosexual, then why is it so horrendous that he should be with me?" Harry finally braved a question.

"Is it not obvious?" Snape asked, annoyed at the question.  
Harry gave a blank stare until Draco added in his own sense.

"Because you're _Harry Potter_," Draco raised his hands for emphasis. "The Chosen One, The Boy Who Lived!"

"Oh, right," Harry replied, his face screwed up in thought. "But I still don't see what more danger I could add if he is already seen as a 'traitor.'"

The professor seemed to understand now Harry's confusion and made to explain.

"Presently Draco is protected by his family name. He will be disowned and shunned by the vast majority of the Death Eaters, many of which are his family and friends, but out of respect for his father's contribution to the Death Eater Cause, he will be left unharmed. The danger, then, lies in the fact that he has chosen the Dark Lord's greatest enemy as his lover. Malfoy or not, no Death Eater will allow such a traitorous act to go unpunished."

Harry felt himself become sick to his stomach. He had pieced together that Draco's situation must not be the greatest if he had felt the need to take his own life. But there was something about the matter-of-fact way Snape had used to explain the full situation that really him home with Harry. He was scared to look at Draco, afraid he might see that same defeated expression he had seen in the unused classroom, but he forced himself to look anyway.

Worried, gray eyes met Harry's, though harry realized from the way Draco searched his face that the worry was not for the dangers Snape had just described, but rather that Harry might decide all of this was too much to handle and leave. Although he was a little nervous to do so with Snape watching him, Harry leaned sideways in his chair and reached for Draco's hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. Snape pursed his lips at this show of affection, but when he saw Draco's expression soften at Harry's reassurance, his mouth relaxed just slightly.

"Now that you are aware of the dangers," Snape continued once Harry had leaned back in his seat and returned his hand to his lap, "I fully expect both of you to take any precaution necessary to avoid trouble. While you are here in the castle you will be safe, though if and when word begins to spread about the two of you, we will need to look into moving Draco away from some of the more zealous members of the Slytherin house. Until then, I advise both of you to use discretion with your relationship."

All Harry could do was nod, but Draco seemed to have a better hold of himself. The Slytherin stood up and thanked his godfather before turning to Harry and nodding his head towards the door. Harry understood the silent gesture and followed Draco out of the office, smirking for just a second as he realized he had made it through a full meeting with Snape without losing a single house point.

**Note: Hmm, so that kind of turned into a history book reading. Sorry about that! The history major in me temporarily took over my better sense. It was kind of fun to come up with the general history of Death Eaters, though, haha. I wanted there to be a real plausible explanation why Draco is in so much danger. Did I do an okay job at it? Or are you all utterly confused?  
As for the next update, I'm not entiredly sure when it will be. I have a doctor's visit tomorrow that will either leave me sitting at home bored, desperate to write more, or completely groggy and not wanting to do anything but sleep. We'll see. ~TJ**


	9. Chapter 9

**Note: I know I know! It's been ages since I updated last. I'm a terrible terrible person. But I can honestly say it's been a really busy week for me! I had a final exam yesterday and a research paper due. But here ya go! It's currently 5:40 in the morning, and I should be sleeping, but I'm a nice person and decided to get this up now so it would be ready to read ASAP.**

Draco and Harry left the dungeons in silence. Students were roaming about the castle, taking advantage of the free time before dinner, but no one seemed to be paying the two boys any attention. Draco had taken the lead, but Harry stayed close behind and in step as he was led out of the castle in the direction of the lake. It was still bright outside, though the sun was toying with the idea of retiring for the evening and kept dipping lower and lower in the sky.

As the two moved farther away from the castle their steps slowed until finally they stopped next to a tree near the edge of the vast lake. The two sat down with their backs to the castle and stared out across the lake. They stayed like this in silence for some time, though it was not an uncomfortable silence. On the contrary, they both felt themselves grow calmer and more relaxed.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked after a while, still staring out at the lake.

"Draco did not answer immediately, but weighed his words. "No," he finally answered. "But don't worry about me."

"I think it's a little late for that," Harry smiled, almost sadly.

"Yeah, I suppose so," Draco laughed.

"You have a beautiful laugh," Harry turned to smile at the other boy and was met with a smile in response. "May I ask you something?"

"Yes, of course."

"Why are you going through with this?" Harry tilted his head to the side, honestly curious.

"It's like I said before: I can't go back. Not now, anyway. Not after I have seen there may be some hope for someone like me." Draco absentmindedly played with a blade of grass between his pale, slender fingers.

"What do you mean?" Harry pressed.

"Well, being with you for starters. Believe it or not, I've had my eye on you for a while," Draco smirked in friendly jest. "I have always admired your ass."

Harry's face grew hot at the thought of the Slytherin checking him out in the corridors between classes. Not that he hadn't been guilty of something similar on occasion…

"That and the chance to escape my future as a Death Eater," Draco finished.

"What? But I thought…"

"I'm not pretending to be a saint, Harry," Draco said, now tearing apart the blade of grass he had been playing with. "I was taught a certain mindset growing up, one that I find difficult to let go of, but that does not mean I play to give into their fairy-tale ideals."

"They're rather dark for a fairy-tale," Harry pointed out.

"That depends on your perspective," Draco countered.

Harry shrugged. "So does that mean you'll stop calling my friends 'mudblood' and 'blood traitor'?"

"Not a chance."

Harry frowned then added, "For me?"

"Very well," Draco gave another one of his laughs which elicited a pleased hum from the Gryffindor next to him. "Harry, can I kiss you?"

Harry was a bit taken aback by the question and it must have shown on his face because Draco began to shift uncomfortably where he sat. It was not that Draco had asked for a kiss that surprised him, but rather that he had asked at all. Harry still was not used to this softer and less pushy side of his past enemy.

"You don't need to ask," Harry answered softly and leaned over to meet the other boy's lips.

The kiss was in every sense different from their hurried, lust-driven kiss in the library. This time the kiss was gentle, thought it was anything by lacking in feeling. When Harry's lips met Draco's they almost seemed to freeze in place. It was as if they each wanted to imprint the feeling of each other's lips permanently into their minds. After what felt to them like a few seconds and a few years all at the same time they slowly began to come to life. Harry moved his mouth slightly one side and began, ever so gently, to suck on Draco's upper lip. In response Draco carefully let his tongue slide from his mouth to first slide across the edge of Harry's teeth and then venture further to find Harry's tongue. Here the kiss became rougher, though still controlled. The two struggled for domination with their tongues and moved their lips in rhythm against one another.

Harry lost control first. As the kiss wore on he felt a growing heat below his waist that every fiber of his being urged him to give in to. Without warning, Harry stole back his tongue and pushed Draco down so that he lay on the ground face-up. He then crawled on top of the Slytherin and straddled him so that he sat strategically near the other boy's waist.

"H-Harry?" Draco stuttered, obviously nervous and almost scared.

"I want to fuck you," Harry replied to-the-point.

"I…I don't know if that's such a good idea. Not here…" Draco turned his head from side to side looking for anyone who might be around.

"Then we can go somewhere more private."

"No! I mean…aren't we rushing things?" Draco blushed.

Harry frowned. If anyone could be blamed for rushing things, it was certainly not Harry. In the past few days Draco had asked him to forget everything he had come to dislike about Draco and to trust him enough to not only be a friend, but to give Draco his heart completely. And Harry had agreed. So why was he not allowed to ask this one thing from Draco?

Feeling hurt, Harry made to move off of the other boy, but was stopped by Draco's hands on his hips.

"It's just…" Draco began as he awkwardly looked from Harry to a point just the left of his head and back again, "I've never done _that_ before. I'm just nervous is all."

"What, never?" Harry's eyes grew large as Draco shook his head. "Not even with a girl?"

"What kind of guy do you take me for, Potter?" Draco snapped and pulled his hands away from Harry.

"I'm sorry," Harry was quick to apologize. "You said that a lot of girls have come to you and I just assumed. You are gorgeous after all."

Draco smirked to keep from smiling at the compliment. "I bet you have had all sorts of encounters being _Harry Potter._"

"Not a one."

It was Draco's turn to grow wide-eyed. "So you mean to tell me that the most famous wizard of our time has never put his dick anywhere other than his own pants?"

"That's right! You should fell flattered," Harry winked and shifted so that he sat closer to the growing lump in Draco's pants.

"I am," Draco laughed and bucked up against Harry playfully. "But it is dinner time and Severus will get suspicious if we never show up."

"Very well," Harry sighed and crawled off Draco. Once he had made it to his feet he extended his hand to help the other boy up. "But next time I'm not going to give up so easily."

Draco laughed again. "I don't expect you will."

"Well?" Harry directed at Ron when he sat down to eat.

"Hmm?" Ron's mouth was stuffed full with chicken.

"Earlier today after class. Something I said made you decide I was worth talking to again."

"Oh…" Ron had swallowed his food and was readying to take another mouthful. "Look, Harry…I'm sorry."

Harry noticed that Ron looked at Hermione as he apologized. Hermione nodded in approval.

"I'm just miffed you've chosen that ferret. Do you recall at all how much of a twat he's been since we met him? Particularly to Hermione and I!"

Harry was unsure how to respond because it was this very issue that he was still the most uncomfortable with.

"Something happened," Harry tried. "I don't want to say what happened just yet, but trust me? He's really not all that bad and he's willing to change."

"Something big must have happened if you're willing to snog the ferret and then meet with Snape to discuss it," Ron replied, explaining the thought-process for his earlier change of heart.

"So are we good?"

Both Ron and Hermione nodded, though half-heartedly.

"And you're not going to be all awkward around me now that you know I'm gay?"

"Nah," Ron assured him. "One of my brothers is gay so I got over that a while back."

"Who?" Hermione asked.

"Bill, though keep that quiet, yeah? Mum and Dad don't know yet. Turns out his flat-mate in London is more than just a flat-mate. Mum and Dad just think he's helping to pay the rent, but Fred and George figured out the truth when they went to visit last summer."

A flood of relief washed over Harry at Ron's confession. Though he had been furious at Ron for being such a homophobe, or so he thought, he had also been terrified at losing his best friend. He was not sure if you could have ever justified losing Ron for his former Slytherin arch-enemy, but for now he no longer had to worry about that. However, while he no longer had to worry that Ron would hate him for being gay, he did have to worry about how his friends and his new boyfriend would behave toward one another. It was one thing when they had all happily hated the other side, but now Harry was stuck in the middle and he was not sure how much he would be able to take.

Despite all this reason to worry, Harry's mind had managed to venture back to his pre-dinner kiss. For the rest of dinner he was lost in his thoughts, a smile planted firmly on his lips, and happily oblivious to whatever Ron and Hermione were talking about around him.

"Ron," Hermione leaned forward in her seat, "I don't like this Malfoy thing one bit, but I think we may have to give into this one."

Ron grunted.

"Look at him! That smile…it's too late. He's already fallen in love."

**Note: Oo, I mean, aren't I? Not letting Harry get his way with Draco...hehehe. But stick around, you may get your wish fulfilled sometime soon. I had a good reason for making them wait, though, so don't be too mad at me.  
Next update will be up much sooner than this one was. I'm finally done with summer school so I have much more free time on my hands. But, you know, reviews always help to speed up the process! Thanks for sticking with the story! Y'all are awesome. ~TJ**


	10. Chapter 10

**Note: Wow guys, I'm so so sorry I haven't updated in a really long time. School got out for the summer, and for some reason I just really didn't feel like writing. But lucky for y'all, I just took a 12 hour round trip car ride to visit family, so I gave in and wrote down what I've been hoarding in my head. I start school in a couple of weeks again, so if I decide to be a cruel and awful person and continue to give into my laziness, I'll be back to normal in not too long ^^**

The Gryffindor versus Slytherin Quidditch game was fast approaching and neither Harry nor Draco could find a moment to spare to make one of their secret meetings out near the lake. Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape seemed to have come to some disagreement during a dinner conversation causing both to have an overwhelming desire to see the other's house crushed on the Quidditch pitch. Whatever the disagreement was over must have been big because Professor Snape on any normal occasion hated Quidditch, but Harry was too exhausted from practice to be curious.

The Quidditch pitch was constantly occupied. When one team had finished practice, the other was being ushered out onto the field by the team captain. Harry and Draco would catch site of one another during this trade-off, but neither dared say a word to other while the rest of the team was around.

Apart from those brief glances at practice, Harry and Draco were left to steal moments between classes in the corridors. Though, thanks to the crowd of students and Draco's faithful tag-alongs, Crabbe and Goyle, they could only give each other meaningful glares and snide remarks and, if they were lucky enough, the passing of a secret note. It was all driving Harry mad.

"For heaven's sake, Harry! Just go meet him after dinner!" Hermione demanded after watching her love-sick friend stare at his yams for entirely too long. Ron jumped at Hermione's outburst and had managed to stab the roof of his mouth with his fork, causing him to yelp.

"Slytherin has practice before dinner. Look at him; he's much too exhausted for me to bother him," Harry turned for a moment to see Draco nodding off over his own plate of yams. "See?"

Hermione did not look, but was rather freezing water with her wand for Ron to stick in his injured mouth.

"Just talk to him for a minute or two then. It won't hurt him, and from the sound of things, it will only do you good. Ron told me you haven't been sleeping well."

"What, so you two are 'gossip about Harry' buddies now?" Harry glared at his friends. Ron's face turned red in embarrassment, though Harry wondered for a moment whether it was just from the cold of the ice. "I've just had a lot on my mind is all."

"Either about Voldemort or Malfoy, I'm sure," Hermione said as she urged more ice into Ron's mouth. "And from the way you're moping, I'm betting Malfoy."

Harry sighed and began to eat. Hermione was right as always.

"U'ees eevin," Ron tried to splutter through his ice-filled mouth.

Both Harry and Hermione looked up from their plates to stare bewilderedly at their red-headed friend.

"Eeees eeevink!" Ron tried again, this time gesturing frantically to the door of the Great Hall.

Harry turned just in time to see an exhausted looking Draco saunter out of the hall completely alone.

"Well go on!" Hermione urged.

* * *

"Draco, wait!" Harry called after the blonde-headed figure disappearing down the passage to the dungeons. The Slytherin stopped and turned to stare sleepily at Harry.

"Hey," Draco smiled.

"I know you're exhausted, but it's been so long since we've had a chance to talk."

Draco nodded the looked wide-eyed as a group of Slytherins came out of the Great Hall. Before they could be spotted Draco grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him down the passageway towards the dungeons.

"Quick, in here," Draco led Harry into what appeared to be a closet.

"Lumos," the two muttered simultaneously once the door was shut behind them. They wand light revealed what Harry recognized to be the potions storeroom.

"This is cozy," Harry laughed as he shifted away from some of the more menacing looking potion's ingredients.

"Sorry, it was the first place that came to mind," Draco apologized and then yawned.

"I…I should really let you get some sleep…" Harry stumbled over his words. The close proximity to which he found himself with Draco made it hard to concentrate on what he wanted to say.

"Not yet," Draco half-smiled before another yawn overtook him. "I've missed you."

Unable to hold back any longer, Harry stepped forward to kiss Draco. The Slytherin responded positively to the gesture, but had to shift sideways in the small space to properly kiss Harry back. As he shifted to one side he managed to knock over one of the many glass vials off of a shelf, causing a distinct shattering noise when it hit the stone floor. The two boys ignored the mishap and continued in their kiss, but the sound of the shattering glass had alerted an unfortunate figure in the passageway outside.

No sooner had the door to the storeroom flung open when Harry and Draco felt a hand grab each of them by the shoulders of their robes.

"Office, now!" Snape growled as he yanked the two out of the storeroom.

Harry and Draco stumbled into the office and waited, dazed, for Snape to close the door behind him.

"Explain yourselves," Snape demanded with pursed lips and his arms crossed across his chest.

"If you and Professor McGonagall hadn't scheduled so many extra practices…" Harry began, but was cut off.

"I fail to see how a few extra Quidditch practices requires you to hide away in the storeroom."

"We just needed some place to talk," Draco tried adding.

"Talk? Is that what you call it these days?" Snape sneered. "I should give you both detention, but I shall let you off this time since you did follow my instructions to be discreet about your…relationship. I do not want to see either of you around that storeroom again. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir," the two mumbled.

"You are lucky the vial you knocked over was only full of porcupine quills, not erumpent powder. I am not protecting the two of you only to have you blown up! Now off to bed with the both of you," Snape finished and ushered the boys into the hallway. Apparently suspicious, Snape stood planted in his doorway until Harry had gone out the corridor one way and Draco the other.

* * *

Two days later the long-awaited Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin was underway. Nearly the whole of Hogwarts was in attendance, but to the disappointment of all present, the game was an utter disaster. Sleep deprived and muscles sore from the hours of extra practice left both teams struggling to maneuver their brooms correctly. Midway through the game only one beater had managed to aim a hit at a passing Bludger and the Quaffle had been dropped so many times, the commentator wondered aloud whether it might be a new record. High above the field Draco and Harry struggled to keep their eyes open to search for the golden snitch.

"Stop staring at me and look for the snitch yourself, will ya?" Harry yelled across to the Slytherin who had taken up his normal strategic plan.

Malfoy was quite aware that Harry was the better seeker, but he also knew that he could fly just a tad faster than the Gryffindor. Therefore, he had come up with his own strategy that, when playing against Harry, to wait for the Gryffindor to find the snitch and then zoom into to catch it first. It was a strategy that annoyed Harry to know end because, to his chagrin, sometimes it worked.

"Fat chance, Potter. This game your ass is mine."  
Harry was about to snicker at the comment when he saw a glint of gold about three feet behind the Slytherin. He tried to hide his excitement, but it was too late. Draco could read his mind, it seemed. The Slytherin seeker wheeled around on the spot and saw instantly what Harry had found for him.

"Shit," Harry cursed as he leaned forward to chase after his rival.

"In a normal game Malfoy would have had the snitch in seconds, but this particular snitch was a mean one. As soon as it sensed it had been spotted, it headed straight down for the ground. Malfoy hated this part of being seeker most and considered pulling up in fear he might crash, but he could feel Harry on his tail. Determined not to lose Malfoy pushed forward and reached out his hand towards the glint of gold.

Just before he should have felt the snitch brush the tip of his fingers, Draco crashed head-on into the ground and rolled of his broom. Harry, only inches above him, realized just in time that a disaster was due and jumped off his broom to avoid crashing into the other boy. Unfortunately his split-second decision to jump was not well-planned and Harry landed directly on top of Draco.

Shocked, with the wind knocked out of them, the two seekers just laid their one on top of the other. A moment or two later Draco came to his senses.

"Get off me!"

Harry only grunted.

"Get off me!" Draco repeated and roughly shoved the boy off of him. He stood on shaky legs to see Madame Hooch rushing towards them. The stadium was full of a deafening chant of "Slytherin!" and Draco realized it must have seemed to the audience that he and Harry and been fighting over the snitch while they had lain there on the ground together.

"There is no need for a fight!" Madame Hooch scolded once she had reached the crash site.

Harry still lay on the ground groaning, leaving Draco to feel a rush of guilt flood over him. He wanted badly to check to see if Harry was okay, but the whole school as watching his every move. Should he risk it? Was it worth the suspicion it would bring?

"I'm okay," Harry mumbled at Madame Hooch who had crouched over him, saving Draco from his dilemma. A second later Harry had pushed himself off of the ground and held out his clenched fist for Madame Hooch to see the snitch he had caught on his way down.

"Well done, Potter," Hooch congratulated and then frowned, "but since Mr. Malfoy here seems to think you cheated, we'll need to check who caught it first."

"What?" Draco asked confused at the accusation, but held out his hand anyway to receive the snitch. The small winged ball felt hot in his hands but did nothing.

"As I suspected," Madame Hooch tisked and took the snitch to place it in Harry's hand once again. The moment the snitch met Harry's palm it sprouted wings and began to hover just a few inches above his hand.

"Gryffindor!" Madame Hooch shouted as she thrusted Harry's arm into the air. The stadium erupted in cheers.

**Note: I've already started working on the next chapter, so it will be coming eventually, I promise!**

Reviews: To Dance Until The World Ends - You sent me a pm the other day about the story, but you seem to have pm's disabled. So sorry I never replied! I did try!


	11. Chapter 11

**Note: Whoa! Boy has it been a while since I updated this story! My sincere apologies. Anywhoo, here's the next chapter, which funnily enough, was mostly written ages ago. Again, super sorry for the MAJOR long delay. But I promise, I'm quite determined to finish this story, so I will press on!  
Also, I just went back and read through my story to make sure I wasn't contradicting anything in my new chapters and boy do I have a lot of typos! In my defense, I write my stories out by hand and then type them up really fast late at night. At some point I will go back and edit, but for now, I'm more concerned with getting this story finished. If that bugs you, yell at me in the reviews =p**

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"What a git!" Ron exclaimed loud enough for the crowd of students around to hear. "How dare he accuse you of cheating like that!"

The game had not been over more than twenty minutes when Ron caught up with Harry outside the locker rooms. Harry had changed fast in hopes of catching Draco, but the mass of celebrating Gryffindors around him made finding the Slytherin seeker impossible.

"Huh?" Harry asked as he stood on his toes to see over the crowd.

"Malfoy! Some boyfriend he is," Ron grumbled.

"Ron!" Harry and Hermione scolded in unison, afraid someone around might have heard.

"I'm just saying, it was a low thing to do," Ron defended himself.

"He did not accuse me of cheating!" Harry explained, exasperated, as he began to push through the crowd to get back to the castle. "I accidentally fell on him and he pushed me off. That's _all_. I guess Pomfrey thought we were fighting over who caught the snitch."

"Well, it wasn't very nice of him to shove you off like that. You looked hurt!" Hermione added.

Harry shrugged as he pushed past a group of excited first-years. "I doubt I was doing him much good crushing him. Besides, it must have looked odd to have the two of us lying on each other."

"You see too much good in him, Harry," Hermione shook her head.

"And you don't see enough," he countered.

"Because there's none there!" Ron argued.

"Will you two just leave it? I've made up my mind on this. You're wasting your time trying to convince me out of this."

Harry stopped when they reached the entrance to the castle and turned to his friends. "You two go on ahead. I'm going to wait here for Draco."

"_Draco_," Ron repeated, incredulous. "I suppose next you will be on a first name basis with Snape and You-Know-Who will be 'Uncle Voldemort.'"

Hermione swatted Ron's arm and pulled him away to leave Harry alone. It was a while before Harry saw the familiar blonde hair appear on the path below him. As he expected, Draco was flanked by Crabbe and Goyle who were followed by a slew of other Slytherins from the Quidditch teach. Harry waited until Draco was close enough to see him before he tried to make eye contact. When they did, Harry tilted his head just slightly to the side then headed off in the direction of their typical spot by the lake.

"I'll catch you lot later. I left something in my locker," Harry heard Draco say. A moment later he heard footsteps behind him.

"Are you mad?" Draco asked, sounding nervous, once he had caught up to Harry.

"Mad? What for?"

"For shoving you off like that and leaving you just lying there," Draco looked at the ground as they walked. "I felt like such a git. I was just being stupid."

"No you weren't," Harry smiled and took Draco's hand in his own. "Besides, I got you back with that amazing win I pulled off! You're no match for the great Harry Potter!" He winked at the boy next to him and laughed at the serious face Draco was trying to keep.

"Is it really worth continuing to hide this? It's bound to come out sometime," Draco asked.

"I think so," Harry replied, and sat down under their typical tree, still holding the other boy's hand. "I want you to hold on to what you still have for as long as possible."

"What if I don't want to hide it anymore?"

"Draco, everything will change. Don't you remember what Snape said? You might not be safe your own dorms, for merlin's sake! And your friends…do you think they'll stick around once they know the truth? Are you ready for that?"

"No," Draco sighed and lay backwards onto the grass. "I don't think I will ever be ready for that."

"Then let's leave that for the future. You're worth the wait."

Draco snorted at the compliment, but curled up close to Harry when he lay down next to him.

"I'm just glad that Quidditch match is over with. I'm exhausted," Draco yawned.

Harry hummed in agreement and within seconds the two were fast asleep, curled up into each other.

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Draco had been right to think he would never be ready to face his world turned upside-down. It had all happened so fast he didn't know how to respond. If Harry hadn't been there…

The scene played like a horror movie in his head as he sat cold and shaking in Snape's dark office. –

It had happened between classes. They had become careless, he and Harry. They had kept their relationship a secret so long that they felt invincible. They hadn't been caught so they kept pushing their luck further and further.

Harry, in passing down the corridor, had tried to slip a note into Draco's hand. It had almost worked, if only Draco's fingers hadn't fumbled! He had to stop and pick the note up off the floor.

"What's that?" Crabbe asked stupidly.

"Nothing just a … NO!"

Theodore Nott had plucked the folded parchment out of Draco's fingers.

"If it's nothing than you won't mind me reading it, will you?" Nott laughed as he held the note away from the frantic Draco and unfolded it. "Let's see what we have here…"

Draco tried his best to steal the note back, but it was no use. The thief was a great deal taller than he and Crabbe, in his stupid ways, was holding him back in jest. Draco knew it was too late when Nott's face filled with disgust.

"What the hell is this?" he spat.

Draco tried to stay calm. "Well, seeing as you won't let me read it, I don't know."

Nott began to read aloud and Draco felt his legs begin to give out underneath him. They had always been so careful, he and Harry! Why were they now so careless?!

"'Draco my love,'" Nott's voice dripped with disgust. "'I want to see you tonight. Meet meat our spot near the lake after dinner. It's been too long since I've gotten to properly snot you. Being secret lovers isn't all it's cut out to be.'"

"Ooo, secret lovers!" Goyle laughed, trying to dispel the growing tension he could not understand.

"Signed 'Harry P.'" Nott finished with emphasis and Goyle stopped laughing. "Do you want to explain to me why exactly Harry Potter had been snogging you?"

"None of your fucking business," Draco responded in what he hoped was a firm voice, though he couldn't be sure with his ears pounding with the sound of rushing blood. He felt faint.

"Maybe it's a joke?" Goyle tried to help, half-heartedly.

"Traitor," Crabbe growled.

"What the fuck do you care who I snog?" Draco yelled, fear overtaking him. A crowd had begun to gather around the group of Slytherins.

Crabbe responded by punching Malfoy square in the gut, causing him to double over in pain and collapse onto his knees.

"Pansy had told me there was something strange in the way you rejected her, but I never thought a Malfoy could sink so low," Not had his wand out now and pointed it down at Draco. "And Harry Potter of all people!"

"Expelliarmus!" Harry yelled the spell as he ran down the corridor toward them, finding a gap in the growing crowd to disarm Nott. He had heard the yelling as he left class and had recognized the scared voice.

Nott's wand flew out of his hand, but he didn't let this stop him. He lurched forward and kicked Draco hard, knocking the boy completely to the floor with a yell of pain.

"No, stop!" Hermione yelled out frantically as she pushed through the crowd ahead of Harry.

"Oh, how wonderful! And the mudblood, too! You're sick, Malfoy. You know that?" Nott spat on the figure curled up below him on the cold stone floor. Harry finally made it through the crowd and knelt in front of the whimpering Draco to shield him from Nott, but he was not fast enough to block a well-aimed kick from Crabbe.

"You're dead, Malfoy. Once _they_ found out, you're dead." Nott sneered and turned on his heel to leave. Crabbe followed, but Goyle hesitated. He looked from his retreating friends to Malfoy shaking on the floor.

"Should I…?" He began to ask, but Draco cut him off in a low voice Goyle could hardly hear.

"Go or they will turn on you, too."

Goyle opened his mouth as if to reply, but stayed silent. He paused for a half second longer and then followed the fading figures of Nott and Crabbe down the corridor.

"Draco, how bad are you hurt? Can you sit up?" Harry asked as he frantically scanned the other boy for injuries. The crowd around them had grown and he knew a professor would come soon.

"Leave me alone," Draco whimpered.

"What? Come on, I'll take you to the Hospital Wing. Madame Pomfrey…"

"Leave me alone!" Draco yelled this time.

And suddenly everything was too much. Draco saw the world around him lurch and the ground beneath him fall away. Everything went black and he collapsed in a faint in to Harry's worried arms. –

And now here he sat in Snape's cold, unwelcoming office, shaking and crying as he half-listened to Harry and Severus yelling at each other in the next-door classroom.

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**Note: Geez, this chapter took me ages to work out. I played around with every idea on the sun for how to get the word accidentally out about Draco and Harry, but nothing seemed realistic. This note idea just randomly popped into my head as I was going to bed tonight, and I couldn't wait to finish up the chapter! So here ya go =) It's spring break for me, so I wouldn't be surprised if a few more chapters show up this week. Again, so sorry for the delay! Review please, if you don't mind ^^ Did the dropping the note idea work? Did it seem plausible, too far-fetched, rubbish? Let me know! ~TJ**


	12. Chapter 12

**Note: Ugh, this chapter gave me the worst fight. Anywhoo, it's up now! Before I start, I noticed that for some reason some of the page breaks I had put in in the last few chapters are disappearing again. I'm really confused why this keeps happening, but when I get a chance I'll try and fix them. Just note that if there seems to be a random jump in the story, that may be one of those disappearing breaks...let me know if you find any. I know there's at least one back in chapter 9, but there shouldn't be any in this particular chapter.**

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12

"You idiot, Potter!" Snape was fuming. When he had come across the scene in the corridor and had understood the meaning he had gathered up Draco in his arms and commanded Harry to follow. Once Draco was safely in his office, he had dragged Harry firmly by the arm into the adjacent potions classroom. "Did I not tell you to be careful!? Was that too much for your small mind to handle?!"

"We were…I mean, I tried!" Harry spluttered, very afraid of what the enraged Snape might do.

"Not very well!" Snape thrust the offending note into Harry's face. "Secret lovers? And signing your name! Are you that daft?"

"I'm so sorry," Harry whispered, meaning the apology more for Draco than the furious professor staring him down. He sank into the nearest desk and put his head in his hands.

"Apologies will not help anything now," Snape growled, but backed down as he noted his success at putting the boy in his place. "We must decide what to do next."

"We?" Harry looked up, his eyes red.

"Yes, we, Potter. This is your mess and you will be responsible for it."

"I didn't mean…"

"Never mind what you meant. Draco's belongings need to be removed from the Slytherin dorms before we do anything else. You cannot get in without Draco, but I will not allow him to go alone seeing as you have so kindly informed his house of this unsavory relationship between yourselves. Do you have your cloak?"

"Yes, but it's upstairs in my trunk," Harry replied, surprised at Snape's knowledge of his most prized possession.

"Get it now and come back here immediately."

"But sir, would it not be better if you got Draco's stuff?" Harry asked in earnest.

"I have a class to teach, Potter," Snape pointed to the door to the corridor outside of which a mass of students were waiting to come in. "And quite a few owls to send off to try and delay the damage. Now go. I will explain to Draco the plan while you are gone."

Snape pointed his wand to the door to the corridor and it opened to let a surge of students come through. Harry pushed through the crowd, trying his hardest to ignore the stares he was receiving. It was obvious what the topic of conversation had been as the students waited for class to begin. Snape, at the other end of the classroom, slipped back into his office as his students settled down in their desks, still chattering away about the newest gossip.

"Your brainless companion will be here momentarily to take you to collect your things," Snape called over to Draco as he shut the door between his office and classroom. He turned to face Draco, his arms crossed.

The blonde haired boy still sat shaking on the uncomfortable wooden chair, one hand clutching his side where Crabbe's boot had made contact. He said nothing to the professor and purposefully avoided eye contact.

"I did warn you this would happen, Draco," Severus's voice lost its harshness and gave way to a gentle tone, but it still held an air of scolding. "I tried to give you a way out."

"There was never a way out," Draco half-whispered.

Severus clicked his tongue in disapproval and leaned against his desk. "The damage is done, Draco. There is little we can do now than to move you out of the Slytherin dorms and hope your friend Nott does not spread the word too quickly. I will attempt to keep Lucius in the dark for as long as possible, but I feel I should inform your mother of the situation."

"What would she care," Draco spat, suddenly angry.

"Really, Draco, that's the most ridiculous thing I have heard you say. And considering you once sat in that very chair and told me you were in love with Harry Potter…"

"Then why hasn't she written?" Draco interrupted. "Why did she allow father send me that letter if she cared? She would probably prefer me dead as well!"

"I would very much doubt your mother knows anything at all," Severus replied, not taken aback by his godson's outburst. "Lucius is very strict on the information he allows your mother to be privy to, and I cannot imagine he has admitted to her that his prized son might be defective."

Draco winced at the last word. Severus noticed the reaction and leaned forward to place a hand on the boy's shoulder in sympathy.

"What did your father say to you in his letter? I never asked."

Draco laughed darkly. "That he would prefer me dead than have me to bring such shame to the Malfoy family and that I was not to come home from Hogwarts unless it was the school sending home my remains."

This revelation did, in fact, shock Severus. He had known Lucius to be hard on his son at times, but he had never been cruel – to his knowledge at least. His hand still on Draco, Severus gave the boy's shoulder a light squeeze before pulling away. "Your father is a misguided fool, Draco, but your mother is not."

Part of Draco doubted Severus's reassurance, but it relieved him slightly to think his mother might still be uninformed of his…defectiveness. With the relief, however, came a sharp pang of guilt. He had never stopped to consider how his mother might feel if he had succeeded in killing himself. If he had thought…if he hadn't been so selfish…but no – he remembered the hurt and the pain he had felt as he sat on that cold floor with his potions knife. His eyes flickered to his scarred wrists. No, not even thoughts of his mother could have stopped him that day.

"I must go to class now," Snape pulled Draco out of his thoughts. "Wait here until Potter returns. You are to bring your belongings back here to my office until we decide what to do with you."

Just then a knock came at the door. Severus pointed his wand in the direction of the noise, and the door opened to reveal Harry, hand raised in preparation to knock a second time.

"Ah, Mr. Potter. I suppose you will not be so foolish as to get my godson in any more trouble today? Put on your cloak now and take Draco to his dorms." Snape strolled to the door leading to his waiting class, but paused to add in a serious tone, "See that he is not harassed by anyone along the way."

"Yes sir," Harry replied as he swung the cloak around his shoulders so that all but his head disappeared.

With one last glare in Harry's direction, Snape turned and disappeared through the door leaving the two boys alone.

"Well, shall we go?" Harry asked nervously. Draco's earlier demand to leave him alone still rang in Harry's ears.

Draco said nothing, but stood up on shaky legs. He winced as he did so, clutching his side a little tighter, but he pushed off Harry's attempt to help him stand. Backing away, Harry covered his head with the cloak and followed Draco out into the corridor, thankful his companion could not see the hurt on his face. And though Draco's face remained uncovered, Harry could not read what the other boy was feeling as they headed in the direction of the Slytherin dorms.

They reached the entrance to the Slytherin common room without incident. Most students were in class by now and those who weren't seemed not to have heard the rumor yet or were too busy to care. However, as they passed by some older students studying in the common room, Harry heard them whisper insults as they passed. Had he not feared Snape's retribution, Harry would have cursed the insolent students from under his cloak, but the pair passed by in silence.

When they had entered Draco's dorm and the door was closed, Harry forgot his silence. "Draco, I really am sorry. I thought you had the note or I wouldn't have let go."

Draco waved him off. Though, thanks to Harry's continued invisibility, Draco really waved at the opposite wall. "It wasn't your fault. It was bound to happen anyway with how stupid we've been."

"Stupid?" Harry couldn't help his voice from cracking a little.

"I didn't mean it like that." The Slytherin sighed and fell onto his bed.

Harry moved to sit down next to Draco, which the blonde haired boy was alerted to by the sudden sinking of one corner of the mattress. A moment later, Harry's arms were wrapped around Draco's torso from behind, his hands appearing out of thin air as the cloak caught against his elbows.

"Your dorm is rubbish compared to mine," Harry joked, trying to goad the other boy into smiling. "Your bed is as hard as a rock!"

Draco ignored the attempt and leaned back against Harry embrace. "What if they kill me?"

Harry stayed silent for a moment before replying. "I thought you weren't afraid of dying. That day in the classroom when I found you with that knife…you didn't seem too bothered by the idea then."

"That isn't funny."

"I didn't mean it to be," Harry shifted uncomfortably behind Draco. "You will be safe while you are at Hogwarts."

"What makes you say that?" Draco asked, turning his head to find the emptiness that was Harry.

"What has stopped you from killing me?"

"What? Kill you? Why would I…oh," Draco began to follow Harry's thought. "Harry, don't be ridiculous. Do you really think the Dark Lord would really send a child to kill his precious enemy?"

"Don't call him that," Harry snapped suddenly. It sent him on edge how easily Draco spoke about Voldemort.

"Why not?" Draco asked, defensive.

"It empowers him," Harry replied and added in a mumble, "I only hear Death Eaters call him that."

It was Draco's turn to shift uncomfortably. "Well, I don't suppose I'm very far from being one myself."

"You're nothing like them," Harry tightened his hug around Draco trying to be comforting, but the boy jerked away.

"_Them_ refers to my family, my friends!" Draco snapped.

"Who have abandoned you and would prefer you dead!" Harry snapped back.

Draco pushed himself off of his bed and passed a hand over his forehead as if he was fighting a painful headache. His earlier realization about his mother was confusing his thoughts. "Let's please not talk about this now. I need to pack my things."

Harry stayed put on the bed as Draco tossed various items into his open trunk. He felt sick and was again thankful that he was hidden under the cloak. Had Draco really just defended the Death Eaters after all that had happened? All at once the fear and anxiety Harry had been hiding about Malfoy since he had kissed him in the library came flooding through his mind. What was he doing with this boy who stood for everything he was fighting against? But as his mind panicked over the doubts coursing through him, some rational part of his brain recalled the memory of something Draco had said after their first meeting with Snape.

_"I've seen there may be some hope for someone like me…the chance to escape my future as a Death Eater. I'm not pretending to be a saint, Harry," Draco said, now tearing apart the blade of grass he had been playing with. "I was taught a certain mindset growing up, one that I find difficult to let go of, but that does not mean I play to give into their fairy-tale ideals."_

The memory seemed to calm Harry down for the moment. He slid off of the bed and grabbed Draco's pillow to take it to him.

"Merlin's ass, Harry!" Draco yelled after he had jumped in the air with an embarrassing squeak. "Don't scare me like that! Take that cloak off so I can see you. Merlin, Harry!"

Harry gave a genuine laugh at Draco's reaction. As he unwrapped the cloak from around him he was pleased to see a smile on Draco's face.

But the smile was short lived. Without warning, the door behind them banged open.

"Draco, are you in…what the bloody hell is he doing here?" The voice of Goyle reverberated through the room.

Harry was first to react. He pulled out his wand instinctively, but the intruder was not far behind.

"Gregory," Draco said smoothly, as if there was no tension in the room. "You should be in a class."

"Yeah, well I thought I would come and find you." He and Harry still had their wands pointed dangerously at one another. "I was worried about you."

"Worried?" Harry and Draco asked in surprised unison.

"Yeah, _worried_!" Goyle huffed, obviously not pleased at having his intentions questioned. "You didn't show up to class and I thought Theo or Vince might have…are you packing?"

Harry used the momentary distraction to disarm Goyle, but Draco deftly caught the wand mid-air and handed it back to Goyle.

"Harry, really," Draco rolled his eyes as Harry protested. Goyle, still distracted took his wand and put it away without thinking.

"Why are you packing?" Goyle asked, his mind working over a plausible explanation. "They didn't kick you out?"

"I figured I should get out of here before one of you lot tries to kill me," Draco replied, his tone biting, as he resumed tossing his remaining belongings into his trunk.

"Don't be ridiculous, Draco. They're not going to kill you," Goyle tried to argue.

"No, you don't be ridiculous!" Draco slammed his trunk shut and turned to his housemate. "You may not slit my throat while I'm sleeping, but there's plenty of things worse than killing that I know you lot are fully capable of."

"Draco, I…I would n…never!" Goyle stuttered as Draco pushed past him with his enchanted trunk following along behind him.

"Come on Harry," Draco demanded and waited for the Gryffindor to disappear under the cloak once more before pushing open the door.

"I swear to god, Malfoy." Goyle raised his wand threateningly. "I did not risk coming to find you just so you can run off your 'golden boy' Potter!"

The invisible Harry whipped around to point his wand at Goyle. The obvious anger and hurt in Goyle's voice shocked Harry, but Draco seemed unphased.

"That's just it, though," Draco responded in a calm, controlled voice. "I don't want you risking anything for me. It's not worth it…Merlin, if I could have held on…just let me be, Greg. It's just not worth it."

And with those final words still hanging in the air, Draco backed out of the room with his levitating trunk and the invisible Harry in tow. Goyle did not lower his wand, though he did nothing to stop the exodus. Instead he stood there frozen with his face torn at what expression to show.

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**Note: Boy, was that chapter a tough one! I don't know why, I just couldn't for the life of me get it to come out like I wanted it to. I would have had it up long before now, but everytime I tried to get Goyle involved it seemed completely unrealistic. I'm not too upset with how it turned out, though. I'm much relieved to finally get this chapter uploaded and out of my hair. Now what to do with Draco... ;) Review review! Let me know what you think so far ^^  
~TJ (SnapeIsNotEvil)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Note: Gah, like I've said before, I really hate leaving notes before the chapter, but I have a question for y'all! _What age (or what year) do you think Harry and Draco are during this story?_ Maybe think about it as you're reading this chapter and then let me know? I'll explain and remind you again after the chapter ^^**

13

Harry waited until he and Draco were in the corridor once more to say anything. The encounter with Goyle had surprised him and, replaying the scene in his head, Harry couldn't figure out why Draco had been so hostile.

"Don't you think you were a little harsh back there? Keeping some of your friends couldn't hurt, could it?" Harry asked from under his cloak.

"Come off it, Harry," Draco replied in a firm, but not angry voice. He turned his head to make sure his trunk was still following behind him, but he didn't realize that to do so he was looking straight through the invisible Harry.

"It's just that I feel guilty enough as it is ruining everything for you, and I want you to be able to hold on to what you can," Harry continued.

Draco sighed and turned his head to the side this time as if to face Harry. Taking the hint, Harry moved so that he was next to Draco and brushed his hand against the other boy's to show him he was there.

"This wasn't your fault, so don't feel guilty. Greg is a good friend, but I'm not going to drag him into this mess as well. He may have had good intentions, but I know him well enough to know he hasn't thought it all through just yet."

"And if he keeps trying?" Harry asked.

"I don't know," Draco admitted. As they reached Snape's office he added, "I don't want to talk about this right now. I can't think straight about anything at the moment."

Harry simply nodded, but when he recalled the fact that he was still invisible, he reached out his hand to give Draco's a squeeze as if to say he understood. He think opened the office door and waited for Draco to enter. Snape was still in class, he knew, or he would have knocked first.

Once Draco's trunk had made it through the doorway and had settled itself against the wall, Harry shut the door and removed the cloak from around him, tossing it over one arm. Draco, too restless to sit down, was wandering around the office pretending to read the labels on all the glass vials and jars on the shelves lining the room. His mind was preoccupied with wondering where he would be moved to. There was no he would be permitted to live with Harry in the Gryffindor dorms. Severus would not allow that simply on the principle of his godson becoming an honorary Gryffindor. Not that he would want that either – the potential awkwardness of such an outcome made him grimace.

But where could he go? Hogwarts had plenty of empty rooms, but in all his years of roaming the castle he had never come across a room furnished as living quarters besides the dormitories and faculty housing. Though, he supposed, any number of rooms could be made into a living space if needed. Draco frowned at the idea of spending his remaining time at Hogwarts in a drafty, converted classroom.

"Wonder where you'll be staying," Harry said after sometime in a nervous attempt to make conversation. He was unaware that his comment mirrored Draco's thoughts.

"Hadn't thought about it," Draco lied for no particular reason and turned to face Harry.

"Maybe they'll let you stay…"

"I will _not_ become a bloody Gryffindor!" Draco cut Harry off.

"We're a right better lot than the Slytherins!" Harry defended, taken off guard.

"Hardly," Draco sneered. "At least we have standards."

"Which apparently don't include you."

Draco huffed at the defeat and turned his back to Harry.

"I don't understand you," Harry frowned as Draco resumed his pretending to read all the labels. "You are always so quick to defend the very people who are hurting you!"

"You would do the same," Draco countered. "If your precious Dumbledore turned out to be a right git, you would still defend him until the day you die. You would probably even name your kid after him!"

"I…" Harry was taken aback by Draco's mocking tone, but something else surprised him further…

"Ah, Draco, Harry. I see you have packed up faster than expected. I only just no received Professor Snape's note."

Albus Dumbledore stood just before the closed door, having somehow entered the room totally undetected by either boy. Harry's eyes were wide with surprise and the unexpected visitor, but Draco was turning a slight shade of red as he replayed what he had just said about the headmaster through his head.

"Mr. Malfoy makes a fair point, Harry," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with amusement at Draco's deepening color. "Should I turn out to be a less than admirable character, I should hope you think twice before naming a poor, innocent child after me."

"Sir, Draco was just…"

Dumbledore raised his hand to stop Harry and gave a small laugh, but after a moment his expression turned more serious.

"Joking aside, I believe we have more serious matters to discuss; mainly safer living arrangements for Mr. Malfoy here. Once Professor Snape returns we will discuss our options."

"Headmaster," Snape acknowledged as he stepped into his office.

"Ah, perfect timing, Severus! We had just begun to discuss the matter at hand." Dumbledore took out his wand to conjure a fourth chair for himself and beckoned the others to sit down. The three did as they were told, Professor Snape taking his place behind his desk.

"Headmaster," Snape began before anyone else had a chance to speak, "I would like to say now, before we begin, that I am opposed to Draco living the Gryffindor dormitories, as I feel certain you are about to suggest such an arrangement."

"Now now, Professor," Dumbledore almost laughed. "The two of them would not be living alone and I see no problem encouraging the Gryffindors to find common ground with a Slytherin."

"With all due respect, sir," Draco piped in, "I must agree with Professor Snape."

After their earlier exchange, Harry was not surprised to hear Draco say this, but was more than a little disappointed.

Draco continued. "It's just that I do not think many Gryffindors would take kindly to my moving in. Particularly those of my year, sir."

"I wonder why that might be?" Dumbledore grinned knowingly. He then turned to Harry. "I'm afraid Mr. Malfoy has a fair point, Harry, though I can see you are disappointed."

Harry flushed slightly and looked down at his feet…anywhere but at Snape.

"That leaves us with two options," Dumbledore continued. "The first is to transfer young Draco to either the Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw dormitories, but I suspect that neither of these would be pleasing to either you, Harry, or Professor Snape here. And I must agree. Considering the circumstances, I think it would be best if Draco were around someone whom he could trust. That leaves us with the second option."

"Sir?" Snape asked in one word, to which Dumbledore nodded.

"Professor Snape suggested this arrangement in his short note to me, and while I would normally not allow this, I will make an exception seeing as Professor Snape is your godfather, Draco. Until alternate arrangements can be made, you will be living in Professor Snape's residence here at Hogwarts."

"The dungeon residence is somewhat more spacious than the other residences in the main part of the castle. I have an extra room that we can convert, temporarily, into a second bedroom," Snape explained.

"These new living arrangements man not be permanent, but you will stay with Professor Snape at least until after the Christmas holidays. We will reevaluate the situation then and make changes as needed." Dumbledore stood to conclude the meeting.

"Will Harry be allowed to visit, sir?" Draco chimed in before the others could follow Dumbledore's lead.

The scowl on Snape's face said he had been expecting the question to come up. He avoided answering, however, as he stood up. "That is a discussion for another time, Draco."

Dumbledore nodded in agreement and turned to Harry. "I believe there is still time for you to make it to your last class before dinner. I am sure that Mr. Malfoy will be able to handle things from here. I'll send a note to your professors informing them of why you were late."

"Yes, sir," Harry replied and had no choice but to follow Dumbledore out of the office, leaving Draco behind.

* * *

**Note: Wow, awfully sorry about that! I've had this chapter written out for a while now, I just never uploaded it. Silly me! Anywhoo, I'm heading off to China in *looks at watch* less than 2 hours now, so, while I'll be writing more of the story, I won't be uploading anything new until I get back. I won't have my laptop with me while I'm there, but I won't be gone for too long. Anywhoo, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! I have to admit, I'm a bit jealous of Draco right now. Who wouldn't want to live with Snape, eh? ;)**

**Don't forget to review if that's your kinda thing! And the question! You might have noticed that I've been reaaalll ambigous about Draco and Harry's ages during this story. See, I had a certain age in my head, and then realized a little too late that I had set up the story wrong. *cough* Oops. Anyway, I was curious as to_ what age (or what year) you think Harry and Draco are in this story?  
_It would be helpful to know y'all's answer to that to figure out how best to fix my problem. Thanks thanks!**


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